Walk Away from the Son
by BG.0715
Summary: As the events of Season 2 unfold - and the going gets tough for the folks of Charming, when loyalties are tested and relationships pushed to their brink, will the Parker Sisters be able to hang on or will they be forced to walk away. Tig/OC, Juice/OC
1. Broken Hearts & Bright Ideas

**Walk Away from the Son**

**Parker Sister Saga continues – Season 2 of SoA**

**Chapter 1- Broken Hearts & Bright Ideas**

**By BG and Reaper**

**DISCLAIMER: We did not write the song being referenced herein. If we did, our bank accounts would look a tad bit better than their current state. **

**The song is WALK AWAY FROM THE SUN by Seether. **

**Yes we are aware that we titled Parkers Season 2 – **_**Walk Away from the SON**_** … **

**(We did that on purpose! It's NOT a typo! LOL!)**

**0000000**

The shop radio was blaring loudly as Clay approached the garage bay doors.

_Walk away from the sun, come slowly undone…_

_I can see in your eyes I've already won…_

_I could bleed for a smile, I could cry for some fun…_

_Walk away from the sun, and tell everyone…._

His cell phone rang in his pocket. As he reached into retrieve it, he plugged up one ear and hollered over the noise. "Yeah? Huh? Hang on, Rosen." Over his shoulder he yelled to Chibs. "Turn that shit down, will ya?"

As he kicked the office door closed behind him, Clay took a breath, "Ok, what were you saying about Bobby?"

**0000000000**

Juice glanced over at The Prospect. "Recite the Code."

Half Sack groaned, "Why?"

"Because I told you to...do it."

"Come on…"

"Do it."

"Errrr... I shall not cause harm to any vehicle nor the personal contents thereof, nor through inaction let personal contents thereof come to harm." Half Sack said with a roll of his eyes.

Juice sat in the passenger seat of the tow truck with a shit-eating grin on his face. "Very nice! Learn it… live it… love it… it's the Repo Code."

Half Sack glanced over at him as he turned the key and the engine came to life. "Really? Because it seems that you and Chibs are the only ones who know this code. I was out on a call with Tig a few weeks back and I asked him. He sat where you are laughing his ass off, but didn't have a clue what the hell I was even talking about. So I recited the damn thing and he still had no clue… just laughed harder."

Juice busted out with laugher but managed to direct the Prospect to 'DRIVE' in between the giggling fits.

Half Sack glared at Juice and reached over and turned the radio as high as it would go in an effort to drown him out.

_There's so much left in the air _

_so much to tell from a stare_

_There's so much left to defend_

_but I am no fun_

**0000**

_So turn away from the ones who hurt everyone_

_I can tell by your smile you're coming undone_

_I could bleed for a smile; could die for a gun_

_Walk away from the sun and kill everyone_

Opie sat on the picnic table top at the rest area hundreds of miles from home. He glanced over at the teenagers that had parked three spaces down from his bike. The music and the smell of ganja were both heavily emanating from their Jeep. His mind mulled over a line he had just heard… _turn away from the ones who hurt everyone. _ Opie shook his head. The walkabout was not solving any issues in his life; it wasn't clearing his head. If anything it was causing more doubts, making him angrier. With a sigh he mumbled,"I'm coming undone."

**0000**

As she sat in her Mustang at the corner of 14th and Franklin in Oakland, Jaci dug in her purse and retrieved the bottle of St. John's Wart capsules. She shook a pill out of the bottle and popped it in her mouth. She washed it down with a chug from a Red Bull energy drink and tossed the empty can over her shoulder. It landed in the floor board now uncharacteristically littered with debris. She shook her head at her lame prescription for keeping the blues at bay; Red Bull and herbal depression relief nonsense. All Jaci really wanted to do was lay in bed and be depressed, but nooooo, life didn't stop for broken hearts. The light turned green and she gunned the gas as she cranked the volume on her radio to ear drum piercing level.

_So tiny dancer beware, we're medicated and scared_

_This smile is so hard to wear, but I have no gun_

**0000**

"Yo no habla Engles." The pissed off woman hollered at him.

"No, we are repo'ing your car because you haven't paid your bill_._" _And it's SO convenient that you can become NOT Bi-lingual when it suits you – _Half Sack added to himself. He glanced over at Juice who was watching with amusement. "You speak Spanish, explain to her that…" 

"Well aren't you just racial profiling? Just because my last name is Ortiz, you just assume I speak Spanish." Juice scoffed.

Half Sack rolled his eyes at Juice and glanced back at the hysterical woman. "If you'll just hand over the keys... KEYS!" He made the hand motions as if he was starting the vehicle. He glared back over at Juice. "I am not _assuming _anything, I know for a fact you speak Spanish. So can you just tell _chica_ here to _give us the keys_ so we can get the hell outta here?"

The irritated woman looked from Half Sack to Juice and back. She shook her head and cursed the two men to hell in her own dialect.

Juice looked over at the woman and said flatly "Le gusta usar ropa interior femenina y cantar canciones demusestra en su sala de estar."

The woman laughed out loud at the mental image of the persistent one standing in his living room wearing woman's underwear and singing show tunes. But then seriously worrying about the state of his sanity, she dug the keys out of her pocket and tossed them at the one with tattoos on his head. In the distance a car drove by blaring tunes out its window…

_So turn away from the ones who hurt everyone_

_I can tell by your smile you're coming undone_

Juice caught the keys and shot her a smile.

Back in the wrecker Juice smiles at the Prospect. "For the record it's …_oye niña nos vas a dar las jodias llaves_" Shaking his head he finally advises Half-Sack how to ask for the keys in Spanish.

**0000**

Jaci's mustang rumbled into the underground parking garage at her office building. The security guard shot her an uneasy look as the radio in the guard shack played…

_I could bleed for a smile; could die for a gun._

_Walk away from the sun and kill everyone._

**0000**

He stood in the shower letting the scalding hot water cascade over him. He let his mind drift as his splash proof shower radio pumped lyrics into the steam filled air…

_you're fading away with every day._

_(you could've been the next one, should've been enough for me)_

_you're fading away with every day_

_(you could've been the next on, should've been enough for me)_

Tig stepped out of the shower and stood naked in front of his bathroom sink. He wrapped a towel around his waist and ran his hands through his wet hair. Cutting out early from work had been a really good idea but pointless since he knew he would just end up back at the clubhouse later. Go to work, go to the clubhouse, get drunk, fuck some random woman, pass out and repeat…so was the life of Tig Trager these days. He reached out and wiped the fog off the mirror which was still broken from the night he put his head through it. The song continued to play…

_There's so much left in the air_

_so much to tell from a stare_

_There's so much left to defend _

_But I am no fun_

He walked back to the shower and leaned in to turn the radio off. The radio was an item he never would have bought himself. He had even made fun of Jaci for having one but after they hooked up in her shower one morning while _Slow Ride_ by Foghat blasted around them, he was converted. She had bought him one for his shower the next day, handing it to him with a wink and a smile. He had hooked it up and enjoyed the hell out of it even though he had never told her that. Sadly there had been no shower hookups for them at his place…and there wouldn't be…not now.

**0000**

At SNIPS the radio played in the background…

_you're fading away with every day.._

_(you could've been the next one, should've been enough for me)…_

_Walk away from the sun_

_fading every day_

_you could've been the next on, should've been enough for me_

"I don't like the rain." Ellie said as she stared out the front window.

Vix turned down the radio and looked at the little girl, worried.

"No rain… no rainbows." Kenny chirped.

Vix raised an eyebrow. "Wow that was really deep, Kenny. Where did you…"

"He's copying from a TV commercial." Ellie announced.

"Oh." Vix said, still pondering what sort of mad genius the 7 year old had to be to pull that out of a commercial and apply it to … she shook her head to stop the thoughts. It was obvious these kids were both way smarter than her and she didn't feel like being depressed on a Friday afternoon.

"Gramma Mary is here!" Kenny announced.

Vix nodded. "Ok, guys… do you got all your stuff?" Vix asked. "Kenny, did you grab GI Joe and Cobra? They were battling it out for universal control under the shampoo chair."

"Got 'em." Kenny chirped as he zipped his book bag.

Mary entered the salon. "Hey Vix, thanks for letting them hang out here with you."

Vix nodded. "No problem." She eyed the older woman thinking _dentist my ass… only appointment she had was with Dr. Jack N. Coke._ "You sure you're ok? Do they need to do the root canal?"

Mary mumbled a vague response. "Probably but who has that kinda money, huh? Ok, kids, let's go."

**0000**

"Where are the little ones?" Eve asked as she breezed into the salon.

"Mary picked 'em up about an hour ago." Vix said, standing up from her chair and stuffing the magazine she'd been reading into her bag. "Your four o'clock is running late and Mrs. Maholick called to switch her color n' cut back to its original time slot."

Eve shook her head, "Have you heard from Margie Sinclair?"

"Nope! Thanks for small miracles. Why?"

"Well, it's just you know how that woman loves to flap her gums and it's been weeks since you sent out those salon closing notices and no one has said a thing. I am very surprised by the lack of backlash. I honestly pictured the town in an uproar… no truer sign of an over inflated self-worth." Eve noted the odd look that flashed across Vix's face. "You did mail out the notices right?"

"Umm hmm, yep, sure did." Vix lied, thinking of the box still taking up space in the trunk of her car. "You're important to this town Eve… your worth is not over inflated… thanks for being so cool with me taking time off again."

Eve nodded, "No problem, sweetie."

**0000**

Vix hated like hell lying to everyone. But she wasn't sure anyone would really understand and everything was still too fragile to withstand criticism, even of the well-meaning kind. For the last few weeks, thoughts had been swirling around her head. They had progressed from thoughts... to a dream... to a plan. But for that plan to become reality she needed help but as she thought about the people in her life she knew they'd need some serious convincing and that would take intel.

That is how she found herself spending the last few afternoons… staking out various salons and day spas in the areas surrounding Charming. She had compiled quite a detailed file that she entitled "COMPS". She had snapshots of the various places. She made detailed notes on what she thought they were doing right, wrong, and where they could be outdone. She jotted down their prices, which ran the gamut from outrageous to ridiculous. She'd made a few ninja phone calls – for which she called upon experience gleamed from an entire summer of days wasted listening to those stupid Jerky Boys prank calls CDs. She giggled to herself thinking; _Uncle BB would shit if he knew that was time well wasted and coming in handy now HA!_

In the end, her conclusions only added fuel to the desire that was now burning inside her. She now knew that if SNIPS was not replaced, the citizens of Charming would have any number of hair care styling facilities to choose from, however, none of them were IN Charming. So they would have to travel to be over charged and their finished hair result would leave a lot to be desired. In Vix's honest opinion, the heads of hair in Charming needed her little dream to come true. She glanced at her watch- startled to see how late it was. Tossing her _research_ in her tote bag, she fired up the Charger and headed in the direction of home.

**0000**

Jaci leaned back in her leather office chair and stared at the clock again; another day almost done. She started making quick piles of the files strewn over her desk. A month ago, she would have filed everything nice and neat and left her desktop complete clear and spotless before she left for the day but lately she had a bad case of the _'I don't give a fucks'_. She was just shutting down her computer when a girl from Legal poked her head into Jaci's office.

"Hey, Jaci…you going out with us again tonight? I think we're going to that bar we went to last Thursday."

"The martini bar?" Jaci asked with a frown.

"No…that was last Wednesday. Or was that Tuesday?"

"Tuesday was that stupid uppity bar that Jason picked…remember 'Tom Collins Tuesdays'?" Jaci rolled her eyes.

The girl laughed. "Oh yeah…what a dumbass. So anyway, you in?"

Jaci didn't miss a beat. "Absolutely." She had been going out with the Oakland crew about every other night since she started staying and working in town. Right now the name of the game for Jaci was staying distracted and staying out of Charming and Oakland fit the bill perfectly.

**0000**

Church had wrapped up and the after-party was in full swing. Juice sat drinking a beer at one of the picnic tables under the pavilion outside the clubhouse. His eyes scanned the crowd but his mind knew it was pointless. It had gotten to the point he didn't need to _see_ her – he could _sense_ when she was around. Vix wasn't there tonight – like she'd promised she'd be. The last few weeks he'd noticed she'd become increasingly distracted, secretive and jumpy to the point of being defensive. Juice didn't think himself insecure enough to require her undivided attention, but he was far too smart not to be a bit worried. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed her number. "Hey, where you at?"

"Schmoozing my way out of a speeding ticket." Vix replied and watched in her rearview at the cop sat in his car punching her info into his dashboard computer. "I hope." …

She saw the cop approaching her vehicle. "Hang on baby...let me call you right back."

Juice hung up his phone and downed the rest of his beer. He walked over and tossed the bottle in the now highly advertised recycling bin, the latest of the Prospect's bright ideas. Half Sack was attempting to save the planet by making SAMCRO go green. He was walking across the parking lot when his phone vibrated. As soon as he flipped it open, he heard Vix ranting. "I'm guessing you didn't get out of it, huh? How much?"

"The actual ticket or the cost after they tack on all the FUCKIN' FEES… FUCK! Why don't they just add on a donation to _Feed the Children_, while they are at it? Then Sally Struthers could save her damn breath. Two-ninty-eight! I am seriously losing my touch man. You turn twenty six years old and it is all down hill. I've never not been able to flirt my way out of a ticket. You think maybe the cop was gay? The 3 C's have never failed me, not ever … 'til now."

"Do I even want to know?"

"Charm, Cuteness and Cleavage. Come on, Juice… you're a guy. I think that cop was gay. Look I am totally running exhausted, baby. I'm gonna head home. Meet me there, we'll order pizza and watch those movies Happy bootlegged."

"Yeah, I guess… I got nothin' better to do." Juice replied not bothering to filter out the icy edge to his voice.

"Well don't that make me feel special."

"Just because you're pissed off about not being able to get out of that ticket…don't take that shit out on me or I'll stay here were the _fun's_ at."

"I am not taking anything out on you but if you think I am… do whatever makes you happy." She hung up without a goodbye.

Juice stared at the phone. He rolled his eyes and walked to his bike. He felt his phone vibrate less than a minute later. He let it go to voice mail as he strapped on his helmet.

**0000**

Juice was sitting on his bike, in the driveway of Parker Place when she got home. She killed the engine and climbed out of the car. She looked at him and smiled. "Hey, baby."

"Hey back."

"You didn't answer when I called to apologize."

"I know, I thought I'd let you do it in person."

"Really? So now I'm _fun_, hmmm?" She came to stand in front of him, watching as he appeared to contemplate that question. She watched as a smile spread on his face and she stepped into his embrace. "I'll take that as a sign that your memory is still intact… but if you happen to need a reminder, why don't we take this little party inside, hmm?"

"Your sister home?"

"Are you kidding? She's avoiding this town like we all have the plague. Besides when has Jaci being home ever stopped us before? Only difference is when she is here we got to control the volume." She smiled, kissed his lips, then headed toward the house. She stopped halfway up the path and turned back. "You'd have let me out of that ticket, right?"

"That cop had to have been gay, baby." Juice agreed with a grin.

**0000**

Jaci and her work crew milled around the bar, searching for a table large enough to cram all of them around. She scanned the crowd of people absently. She was about to turn her attention back to her friends when a guy brushed past her. Jaci only caught a slight glimpse of him but it was enough to make her subconscious startle and make her heart pound. She quickly turned around to get a better look at the guy. He was wearing a black shirt with the sleeves rolled slightly and had dark curly hair.

_Stupid fucking brain. It's not HIM. Calm the fuck down. _Jaci stared after the guy for a moment longer. One of her friends nudged her and laughed. "See something you like, J?"

"What?" Jaci frowned, distracted. "Oh no…I …he just… looked familiar." She took a deep breath and wanted to hit her herself in the head until her brain jarred loose. _No no no! Tig thoughts do NOT travel to Oakland! That baggage stays at the damn Charming city limit sign! _Someone from Jaci's crowd yelled, "Hey! Who wants a shot?" She immediately raised her hand; lately, she felt very good about drowning all uncomfortable feelings in alcohol.

Later that night, her and her co-workers were settled around a table. Everyone was drinking and laughing and having a good time. When Rosen had finally shown up, he sat down next to Jaci like he seemed to do every night they went out and had immediately slung his arm across the back of her chair. Rosen was downing his drinks rather quickly and was feeling really good and buzzed.

As the bar got more crowded and louder, he scooted his chair closer to Jaci's. She leaned into him and he was talking directly into her ear. They had been bitching about all of the road construction around town and then had moved on to talking about a few people around the office. A lull of silence came between them after awhile and he said something she didn't understand. She frowned and leaned closer again, "What?"

He moved his arm from the back of her chair and let his hands rest of her leg. He smiled slightly and spoke into her ear with a little more volume that was really necessary. "I said you're beautiful!"

Jaci frowned. "Oh...um…thanks." She smiled politely. _Ok, here comes the weirdness._

"No, I mean it… you really are." Rosen encouraged and let his hands wander higher on her leg.

He had tried little moves like this before but she had been able to laugh and play them off thus far but he seemed more persistent this night. His hand slid around her upper thigh and headed inward. Thank God she was wearing pants or his moves would have already been deemed very indecent. He watched her with lustful and more than slightly drunken eyes. She grimaced and slapped her hand down on top of his and held it there. She was in no way, shape, form or fashion ready or willing to be felt up by anyone. _Way too soon for this_. _Ok, J…you've had enough fun for the night…time to politely extricate yourself from this little moment._

"You know what?" She smiled at Rosen. "I gotta go."

He frowned. "To the bathroom?"

Jaci shook her head, "Home." She pushed her chair away from him and stood up. Her friends around the table groaned and teased her for leaving so soon as she gave them a wave goodbye.

Rosen stood up with his hands at her waist. He started trying to convince her to stay. "Wait…I have a better idea…I'll go with you.'"

Jaci patted his chest and spoke into his ear. "Not a chance. Not tonight." He gave her a frown and a pout but she just smoothed her hand down his chest. "Have a seat, have fun with the crew. I'll see ya around." She pushed past him and headed for the door feeling more than a bit weirded out. She was hanging around Oakland due to its lack of complications…but here went things getting complicated. _Shit._

**0000**

Juice and Vix were snuggled up on the sectional couch halfway through a movie when she sighed. She stood up and wandered into the kitchen. Moments later, shattering glass was heard along with Vix's exclamation of "MOTHERFUCKIN" CAT!"

Juice shook his head and hit pause on the remote. He headed into the kitchen where he found Vix drenched in red wine. She stood amid the shattered remains of her wine glass and was pointing the sink hose towards the far corner of the kitchen. "Jesus Christ!"

"Where is that damn cat? I am gonna blast his ass. Here, kitty kitty…"

Juice laughed out loud as Vix eyed him. "This is not funny for several reasons. The little fucker gashed open my ankle. I am bleeding. This was my favorite Allman Brothers T-shirt. That wine glass was Waterford Crystal and I promised Jaci I wouldn't touch 'em 'cept on special occasions but every other glass in this house is dirty since I haven't had time to do the friggin' dishes and I will now have to pay out my ass to replace it AND speaking of Jaci she is gonna lose her shit when she sees this floor cause that wine is gonna stain the tile. Time for Screwy Louie to pay the piper. HERE KITTY KITTY KITTY!"

"Calm down, baby, ok? We'll fix this... come on, I'll help." Juice soothed, "Now put down the hose."

She began digging under the sink for floor cleanser. "Oh my god, we have no dish detergent." She slammed the cupboard door shut.

"Relax, ok? I'll run to the store and get some."

"NO!" Vix gasped. "No you won't! Donna died running to the store to get dish detergent. Please don't go!"

Juice stood staring at her, "Well what are you planning on doing? Just throwing out the dirty dishes and buying new ones? Baby, that's retarded. Donna did not die because of dish detergent." He watches Vix, very on edge. "Are you…?"

"No! I am not! I am so far from ok right now. I am not cut out to be the responsible one… that is Jaci's job! And she is like… off in Oakland playing Three's Company and this house is falling apart and I am losing my job and now I have a speeding ticket and broken crystal and stained tiles and you're mad at me and..."

"I am?" Juice asked, confused.

"You were." Vix corrected.

"I'm not anymore though." Juice offers. "And _what_ is Jaci playing?"

"She hasn't been home in like a month; well for more than a few hours here and there. She's practically living in Oakland at her company's condo with this guy and another girl from her office."

Juice raised an eyebrow, "That sounds a bit hinky."

"I am sure it's not gone there... well I hope not. I think Jaci is completely playing Janet to their Jack and Chrissy…and she has become party girl extraordinaire and when I called her on it she bit my head off and said that she guessed she really is our parents' daughter after all. Just her genes were late bloomers or some shit." Vix ranted and then her attention wavered. "Hey, there's that damn cat… grab him!

Vix started to chase after the neighbor's cat, who had seemingly adopted Parker Place as his new home. The girls had taken to calling him Screwy Louie. Juice stopped her. "Leave the cat alone, baby. Back to your sister… I think I've seen J twice since her and Tig broke up. Is all that stuff really going on with her?"

"No, Juice, I am completely making it all up." Vix said with a huff. "She is on some sequestered Federal Jury on a top secret case. How's that? Cause THAT is total BS, but it sounds better than the truth, don't it? And we all have Tig Trager to thank."

"You can't hang this ALL on Tig."

"Oh really? Could I just HANG HIM then?"

"Vix be serious." Juice chided.

"Oh I am… very serious. And I don't want to fight about this, again! Jaci is my sister I will defend her to the death even if she is wrong, which she's NOT. And I know Tigger is your 'bro' and you have his back, I get it. Even though he is an ass and totally to blame. EVEN THOUGH!"

"Well ok then." Juice replied with a shrug.

"Speaking of Dickhead, what's he got to say about stomping Jaci's heart?"

"Not a thing. Sack and me got _'go to hell_' looks the other day when we mentioned her name in front of him. There are LOTS of things you don't talk about at the clubhouse right now and she's one of them."

"Interesting." Vix shook her head. "Jaci's just being weird. I mean that first night she cried for a long time but now...she's not a crying mess, she's not pissed off and yelling, she's just...sad and like...blah." Juice shrugged and Vix continued. "I don't know how to deal with blah. When she dumped Dean she went back and forth from hurt to mad so I held her when she cried and then we went to the shooting range to blow off steam when she was pissed."

Vix took a breath and then cocked her head. "You know, I don't think Jaci has actually ever been dumped before. Maybe that's it...she doesn't know what to feel. And it's not like she was going to MARRY Tig or anything so it's not the end of the world. And she KNOWS all of that. I mean they didn't break up 'cause there was something WRONG with her. It just needed to end."

Juice rubbed his head, thinking over the situation and trying to come up with something intelligent to say. "Well then maybe being sad is good. She'll just be sad for a little bit and then she'll be ok. She'll find somebody else in no time."

Vix nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. I just wish she'd come home; can't avoid this town forever.

"True." Juice said with a nod. "Grab your keys and lets go get some detergent."

**0000**

Vix's wish was granted the next night when Jaci walked through the door to Parker Place early Saturday night. Vix immediately cornered her sister. "We need to talk." Vix said with a serious look on her face.

"Oh God." Jaci groaned. She was a bit of an emotional wreck these days and wasn't sure she could handle any more drama. She dropped her stuff and put her hands over her face and peeked through her fingers. She ventured a few guesses about the topic of discussion. "You look tired. Are you pregnant?"

Vix's eyes bulged. "NO!"

"Getting married?"

"No." A hint of disappointment could be heard in Vix's reply.

Relief was starting to build inside Jaci. "Mmmm…losing your job?"

Vix smiled. "Well, not exactly."

"Oh God." Jaci repeated and was back to worrying. She walked into the living room and sat down.

"Just hear me out." Vix pleaded with her hands up and plopped down on the sofa next to her sister. Jaci crossed her arms, leaned back and raised her eyebrows. Vix began her explanation. "Ok…this is one of those _good news bad news_ things. Bad news is Eve is selling Snips. Her son lives in Colorado and she wants to retire and move out there to be with the grandbabies. BUT…the good news is…" Vix paused dramatically and smiled.

Jaci eyed her cautiously. Something about the sheer look of excitement on Vix's face made her worry. "Spit it out already."

"I'm going to buy the salon!" Vix announced with a grin.

"Are you now?" Jaci tried not to laugh. "My little sister, who has the attention span of a gnat, is going to be the OWNER OPERATOR of a salon? Vix, a business is not a toy. You can't just play with it for awhile and then walk away."

Vix's face fell slightly. She had been expecting a different reaction from her sister. Thank goodness she hadn't told Juice her plans yet, he would have laughed at her without thinking. At least Jaci hadn't actually laughed aloud but she was probably cracking up on the inside. Vix knew she wasn't exactly known for her maturity but she had put a massive amount of thought into this idea.

"This is not a joke!" Vix glared at Jaci and then sighed. "I wanted you to just be supportive but I see you need convincing and I guess I understand that." She scooted around on the sofa to face her sister. "I know you've spent a good chunk of your life cleaning up my messes and pulling me back in line but I am not that hell raisin' kid anymore. I've grown up a lot in the last couple of years and you know it. And this whole mess with Wendy and Abel and us moving out here and me meetin' Juice has sealed the deal. It's time to be an adult. I'm putting down roots here and I want this salon. I'm damn good at what I do and I know I can make that place even better."

"While I appreciate your speech, it's not that simple, sis. There is a huge difference between showing up to work everyday and actually being responsible for everyone and everything." Jaci said softly.

"I know that and I am ready for it." Vix pointed her finger at Jaci. "You know I'm not dumb…I've just never given a damn before. I may not have gone to college and all like you but I am smart!"

Jaci frowned at seeing her sister's feelings hurt. "Geez, I'm not calling you dumb. I'm just saying this isn't as easy as you think. Have you thought about…"

"I've thought about _everything_." Vix interjected. "That's was the reason I look like hell, I haven't been able to sleep for days for all the mental planning! But you wouldn't know that since you're never around. Hang on."

Vix disappeared into her room for a moment and then returned a huge stack of paper and file folders. She started laying all of the items haphazardly on the ottoman and in Jaci's lap. Each folder was neatly titled: designs, financing, college, employees. "There. See? Can your nerd brain relate to this now?"

Jaci was surprised by her sister's sudden show of organization as she flipped thru the folders' contents. The design folder was crammed full of magazine clippings and hand drawings of ideas for the salon's remodeling. The finance folder had loan applications and bank brochures and notes about interest rates. The college folder really caught Jaci's eye and she held it up. "What's this?"

Vix stood taller. "They have a few classes starting up for small business owners at the community college in Lodi. Figured if I was going to do this, I should take them and learn all I can." She watched her older sister smile slightly but the smile faded as Jaci picked up the finance folder again.

"How you gonna pay for all of this, sis?"

"Well…I've been looking at loans and stuff. I know I have the medical bills to pay but all that is worked out on a payment plan thanks to you. So I am hoping I can apply for some of these small business loans and …"

Jaci shook her head. "It'll never happen. You don't have a lot of debt but you damn sure don't have a lot of assets either and I am sure your credit score is probably only so so."

"I have ME. I'm a HUGE asset!" Vix countered.

"Well, unfortunately sheer determination doesn't really factor into the financing equations, sis." Jaci held up the remodeling folder. "And all of this stuff it looks like you want to do... it's going to be expensive, you're going to have to have cash flow and…"

Vix groaned and shook her head, cutting Jaci off. She had wanted to do all of this on her own, without any help from BB or Jaci or Juice but she could see that wasn't going to be entirely possible. She put her hands on her hips and leveled her eyes on Jaci. "Well, ok then. What about you, if you co-signed on a loan, would that help? I never wanted to ask you to do this…"

It was Jaci's turn to groan. If there was one thing she had learned in her years in the finance world it was that money and families shouldn't mix. Before she could even start to put together an answer Vix began bombarding her with assurances the salon would be successful and she would do a good job, etc etc.

Jaci finally held up a hand to stop the assault. "Whoa whoa whoa. Just ….whoa!" She stood up and looked at Vix. "Look, I haven't stepped foot in this house all week. All I really wanted to do was come home, grab a glass of wine and soak in the tub. Now you just up and dropped a bombshell on me and are all up in my face...

"Bitchy much…geez." Vix mumbled.

Jaci sighed, knowing she was griping. "I need a little bit of time to think, ok? Just give me an hour…"

Vix smiled and the excitement flared up in her eyes again. "So you're not saying _no_? Are you saying maybe?"

"I'm not saying _anything_."

"Ok, ok…sorry. Here, you go…I'll get you some wine!" She shoved her sister towards the hall and the solitude she needed. "I'm just excited!"

Jaci laughed. "I can see that."

**0000**

Forty five minutes later, Jaci immerged from her reality break. The tub soak had been a great idea and she had been able to really mull some things over in her head. She threw on a tank top and lounge pants and then opened her bedroom door. She yelled down the hall, "Hey sis! Grab your folders and come here. Looks like we're buying a salon!"

Vix let out a squeal in the living room and immediately ran down the hall with her research. She ran into the bedroom and jumped straight on the bed. The girls spent the next three hours going over plans, setting down rules, and getting organized, using Jaci's bed as a base of operations. It was just like being teenagers again, only this time they weren't giggling over boys or crying over family stuff, they were conspiring on a business endeavor.

Vix basically wanted to gut the salon and completely update it, giving it more of a spa type feel. She wanted to add tanning beds and a hire a massage therapist. "I want to do as much as possible myself. Like I don't want Juice and the guys involved hardly at all. All those summers hanging around Bama and construction job sites are going to pay off for us. We can do the demo, paint, lay tile, install the sinks, put all the new stations together."

"We?" Jaci grimaced. "So I'm supposed to help you in my free time? Vix, I have too much on my plate right now as it is. I can't be adding manual labor to the list."

"Oh what do you have going on?" Vix asked. "A job and a broken heart…THAT'S what's filling your time right now. You're only working so much because you don't want to be at home sitting around thinking about HIM. Manual labor is exactly what you need. Do you a ton of good to smash something with a sledgehammer!"

Jaci couldn't really argue. Her sister was exactly right, she had been overloading herself on purpose and maybe it was time to chill out a bit. And she couldn't stay away from Charming forever. "I guess you're right but that brings up something we need to think about too. I hate to even mention this but what if…"

"What if Juice and me break up? Am I gonna want to tuck tail and run back to Bama?" Vix offered and Jaci nodded. Vix sighed. "I've already thought of that. Juicey and I are hitting some ruts right now but we'll pull out of it… but even if we don't, I want to stay in Charming. You didn't run away when Tig dumped you. Well, I mean…you sort of did…staying in Oakland all the time. But you didn't like MOVE."

She knew her sister didn't mean it to hurt but hearing the phrase '_when Tig dumped you' _ stung Jaci. _Well let's call a spade a spade, you got dumped. Plain and simple. _"I only stayed because you and Wendy and Abel are settled here. If you were to be _unsettled, _then I wouldn't be morally opposed to cutting town; I miss Bama. Life in Charming would be painful for you if you guys break up. Hell, Tig and I weren't anywhere near the same level as you and Juice and it hurts to be here right now."

Vix shook her head. "I like us standing on our own out here. We can't be jumping ship every time something doesn't go our way, right? Besides, Abel needs us. Wendy's head isn't on straight yet and I know Jax and Tara are doing good with him but I think it's best to make sure there's some Parker influence around the little guy."

Jaci nodded in agreement. She wasn't completely convinced Wendy was going to come out the other side this time. Her oldest sister was staying clean, or so she said, but according to Vix she wasn't calling and checking in on Abel like she should and that worried Jaci. If Wendy dropped completely out of sight, Jaci and Vix needed to be there…hell what kind of people would they be today if hadn't been for _Aunt _Roxy and _Uncle_ BB?

She started to re-organize all the papers strewn across her bed. "Ok, we have to go to sleep. You tell Eve you are interested first thing on Monday. She's client of ours anyway. I'll fax over a waver for her to sign that will let me take a look at her books; make sure the salon isn't a money pit. If that goes well, we'll start on credit apps."

"Oh thank you thank you thank you!" Vix breathed and tackled hugged her sister.

"Don't thank me until the keys are in your hand." Jaci cautioned as she peeled her sister off of her. "This isn't a sure thing yet, sis."

"Yes it is." Vix rolled off the bed and stood up, grabbing her folders. She waved her hand between them. "You and me…we're unstoppable. Always have been, always will be. And you've never seen me _this_ determined. We're gonna be like the damn Wonder Twins! This shit's in the bag!"

A sad smile flickered across Jaci's face.

"What?" Vix asked.

Jaci just shook her head, recalling the nickname she had given to Tig and Motor in what seemed like years ago. Funny how quickly things changed. She forced a smile on her face and threw a pillow at her sister. "Get out! I must sleep!"

Vix giggled. As she pulled the door shut she turned and looked at Jaci. "I love you, sis."

"Yeah yeah." Jaci replied as she lay down and got settled in bed. Vix flipped off the light and closed the door.

**0000**

The review of the salon's financial situation went quite well. Eve was very open about all the trials and tribulations she had had in the early days of the salon and she had done a great job of turning the salon into a nicely profitable business.

After taking a day to really dig into things, Jaci thought they had a good chance of buying the salon. She would have to co-sign for Vix but she was comfortable with that after the long talk they'd had. Vix would be the owner/operator of the salon, making all employment and day to day decisions. Jaci would be more of a silent partner and would handle the books, helping Vix make sure they stayed on track financially. The girls started filling out credit applications.

The girls figured they should probably talk to Clay as well. They didn't _need_ permission from SAMCRO to buy the salon, but they thought it would be a nice gesture to ask for his blessing, just as a show of respect. But at the same time, they wanted to make it clear that the salon was _not_ a SAMCRO enterprise, they were to be an independent business.

Vix called Gemma and arranged the sit down between the Parker sisters and Clay and Jax. She made sure that the meeting was held away from all things SAMCRO and TM and well, Tig. After thanking Gemma, Vix hung up the phone. She took a deep breath, typed a text message and hit send.

**0000**

Juice's cell phone emitted a series of low beeps from where it sat on the table next to him. He flipped it open and read the text. It was one simple line that made him cringe; We need to talk! V

Jax caught the strange look on Juice's face as he stared at his phone. "You a'ight?"

Juice looked over at Jax; he'd known all the Parkers way longer than Juice. He carefully posed a question, "Do you think Vix is acting weird?"

Jax cracked a smile and laughed, "You weirder than usual? Cause she's never been _normal_, bro… since the very 1st day I met her. Why?"

Before he could help himself, Juice blurted out his current concerns up to this latest text message.

Jax shrugged and said "She's probably right, you guys need to talk. I am sure there is a very valid and likely bat-ass crazy reason for everything you're worried about. Could it be something you don't want to hear and definitely not want to deal with maybe but just hear her out, man."

"Thanks… I think." Juice muttered and hugged Jax with one arm on his way out of the clubhouse just as Clay entered.

Clay turned and watched his info officer walk away. "Where was Juice going?"

"He's got some shit to take care of. What's up?"

"Gemma called. The Parker girls are requesting a sit down with you, me and Gemma… preferably NOT on these premises. You think he has a clue 'bout what this is about?"

"Nah, man. Says Vix is acting all sorts of strange lately. Gemma didn't get anything out of 'em about why?" Jax asked with a frown.

"Nope. Said Vix was polite and to the point in asking for the meeting but tight lipped on the reasons why." Clay grinned. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious and worried."

"Curiosity has been known to kill."

Clay smirked. "Good thing I ain't a cat. Be at my place tomorrow morning."

Jax nodded and strode out of the club house.

**0000**

The sun was well past set when Juice rolled to a stop in front of SNIPS. He killed the engine and watched through the front window. He smiled despite his mood, as he watched Vix dancing around to a tune he couldn't hear, as she mopped the floor.

She pressed the power button on the radio remote, silencing the tunes she had blaring. When she returned from dumping the bucket of dirty floor water she looked up to find Juice standing there. "Hey, thought you weren't gonna show."

"Been busy." He said as he sat down in one of the salon chairs. "What's on your mind?"

"You want to talk here?" She waved her hands around.

Juice shrugged. "Here… there, it's just geography."

Vix frowned as she was no longer able to ignore the icy edge in his voice. She sighed "Here it is then." She sat down in the salon chair nearest to where Juice. After a deep cleansing breath she began, "Ok, I know that you're concerned. And that you've asked a lot about what was going on and I was elusive at best. I didn't mean to be, well I guess I did… but not really."

Juice held up his hands, "Vix, I am really in no mood to need to be wading though a sea of half-apologies and …"

"Ok, let me start over."

"No! Don't start over… move forward … just stick to the facts and get to the point."

"I need you to stop interrupting me. I only started out that way because I know I was not being completely honest with you and I am sorry, all the way … not halfway, ok?"

She watched as Juice slumped back in the chair with a sigh. He didn't say a word, so she continued. "So much shit has been going down and I really didn't want to add to the drama. I didn't want to say anything until I was 100 percent sure. I needed to figure stuff out on my own. I didn't want to have to depend on anyone… I didn't want to put anyone in a position… I didn't want you to feel obligated in anyway… " She stopped talking when Juice sat forward, rested his elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands, with a groan. "Are you ok?"

Juice exhaled deeply, trying to fight off the lightheaded feeling that was quickly overcoming him. When he regained some sort of composure he sat up and looked at her – studied her. She did appear to have a bit of a _glow_ about her. O_h, fuck me! _ He thought to himself. "I guess I should be asking you that question?"

"What question? Am I ok? I'm fine… I'm perfect… tired a bit. Wish I could sleep but I can't, well not very well anyway… been mulling all this over in my brain for weeks and…"

He did a double take. "Are you fucking kidding me? And you are just bringing this up now?"

"Yes! But why are you getting mad? I had a lot to think about, this is a big decision for me and…"

Juice stood up abruptly and completely startled her. "And you think that you're the only one effected by this?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Vix asked as she stood and planted on her hands on her hips. Juice just stared at her. "If you'd just let me explain… I really think buying this salon is a golden opportunity for me."

Juice blinked and cocked his head. "A hair salon? What?"

She motioned around with her hands. "This … I am buying this salon from Eve. What did you think I was talking about?" Vix asked with a frown.

Juice plopped back down in the salon chair, staring at her, "I was wrong… I do need you to start from the VERY beginning and don't leave a mother fucking thing out... drown me in details."

Vix eyed him - worried and slowly nodded her head, "Ok baby… let me get my folders. You're gonna love them. You have a nerd brain like my sister."

He watched her rush out to her car. As soon as she was out of the door he heaved the hugest sigh of relief in recorded history. In the end, Juice thought the salon purchase was a great idea too. He and Vix had spent the next several hours talking about it and they both agreed it would give Vix an identity all of her own. People in town could see her as Vix the stylist and business owner instead of _the hellion Parker sister_ or _that SAMCRO guy's girlfriend_. When she rocked out that salon and made it a huge success people would be able to see her as the awesome, smart, fiery chick he loved.

**0000**

Three days later:

The Sons were gathered around the Chapel table. Clay wanted to give them a rundown of the latest new on Bobby's jail situation. The ATF had finally, after all of these weeks, admitted that they no longer had a witness to the Hefner murder and Rosen had filed a motion for all of the charges to be dropped against Bobby. "The ATF bastards will drag their feet on releasing him, of course. So we just have to hold tight until while he wraps up this little vacation at the Stockton Spa."

All the men nodded along and gave sighs of relief and voiced wishes for a quick release.

Clay was about to wrap the meeting up when Jax held up his finger. He shot Clay a look. "You gonna make the official announcement or should he?" Jax tosses a look to his left in Juice's direction.

Clay nodded towards Juice. "Vix is his ol' lady let him do it."

All eyes stared at Juice. A sly smile that was one half amusement, one half worry spread across Chibs' face. "Should we prepare for the sounds of pint sized biker boots, brother?"

Since his breakup with Jaci, Tig was no longer in the know when it came to things involving the Parkers. He stared disbelieving at Juice and shook his head muttering, "Fucking idiot."

Juice looked confused and cocked his head at Chibs. "What?"

The Scotsman raised his eyebrows. "Is Vix…" He knocked on the table and made a thumbs up gesture.

Juice blinked at Chibs and then looked around at the others in the room. "Oh HELL no!" But that was my first thought too, bro." He shook his head. "Anyway, Eve is selling SNIPS to Vix. She's gonna be owner operator of the salon. She has all these crazy plans and bright ideas and Jaci…" He winced slightly after he said her name and glanced at Tig. _Oops. _"J is acting as the voice of reason and controller of the finances. Um, apparently they are planning on gutting the salon and doing major updating..."

Tig frowned and interrupted Juice's spill. "Are WE financing this? I don't remember voting on this shit."

Clay shook his head. "Nooo, this is not a SAMCRO venture."

"So they're not kickin' up but it's protected anyway?" Tig asked with sneer.

Jax glared at Tig. "We protect the salon because the girls are family. We protect the salon because it's in the best interest of Charming to keeping small business in town. We protect the salon because Vix and Jaci…." Jax let _her _name sink in for a moment, "…do a helluva lot for this club."

Clay held up a hand and nodded. "Agreed… for all those reasons and because I promised the 'Bama charter that SAMCRO would look after ALL Parker interests in Charming. But to clarify for Tigger, Vix is financing this little project with loans."

"And Vix was very adamant that she doesn't really want any help with the demo and rebuild." Juice added. "She is on some sort of mission to prove she can do this."

Chibs chuckled. "You're gonna turn Vix loose with a sledgehammer? I'd pay to watch that!"

Jax laughed. "There ya go, Clay. We can make some club money by charging admission to watch the Parker sisters wield sledgehammers." He stood up, took a last puff from his cigarette and stubbed it out before heading out of the room.

Clay rolled his eyes at his step-son. In all honesty, he didn't have any problems at all with the girls buying the salon. In his eyes, it was a win-win for everyone. He got another business owner that was supportive of SAMCRO and got the Parkers out of his hair. It was best to keep woman like them, who were a lot like Gemma, occupied.

The idle mind and hands of a smart, independent woman were dangerous things, better to have their focus on something other than anything Club related. Jaci had pulled away nicely from the club since the bust up with Tig and with a salon to completely rebuild, Vix would be spending less and less time around the clubhouse making googly eyes at Juice. Everyone would be happy.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

(and before you even ream us for it…there will be more Jaci and Tig stuff in the future chapters…patience grasshoppa!)


	2. Chapter 2

**Walk Away from the Son**

**Parker Sister Saga continues – Season 2 of SoA**

**Chapter 2- The Games People Play**

**By BG and Reaper**

_Heeeey yooooouuuuu guuuyyyysssss! (ok, that was my Goonies imitation. And a special shout out to Boom- we miss you! LOL!)_

_*We'd like to thank everyone who reads and reviews our stories! *_

_Your reviews keep us going – when we feel like packin' it in and saying 'f*ck it, who reads the damn thing anyway.' _

_We love knowing what little things you liked or didn't, so you keep 'em comin' and we will too! _

_PS – If you're new to Parker Land, make sure you check out __Fire & Ice, Hell Week__ and __Caution Lights __ (in that order) – they chronicle the Parker sisters interaction with the SONS through Season 1. _

_PSS - __Be sure to check out our author profile at FF or our fic folder at TigNation for links to pictures of our cast. We'll add links as new characters are introduced._

_Ok, I think I am done now, LOL! ~ Reaper_

_**XXX**_

Way Down in Hueytown... Alabama, that is…

She stood in the middle of her closet which was a bit of a legend because, bless her heart, Roxy Parker was a fashion plate and a pack rat... the most dangerous of combinations.

She had deep green eyes and thick blond hair that she bleached ever few months. Her nails are manicured and currently bright red. She smoked constantly and owned more lingerie than Victoria's Secret. She grabbed an outfit for the day and left the house in a hurry wearing hip-hugger jeans, a macramé halter top that showed her sculpted abs and strappy sandals with heels of at least 4 inches, giving height to her 5 foot-nothing frame.

She isn't like anyone else in her neighborhood, isn't like anyone else PERIOD. She's Roxanne Johnson Parker, Queen of the 'Bama Charter of the SoA. She's Billy Bob Parker's ol' lady and to Jaci and Vix Parker she's Aunt Roxy, their _Mama-for all intents and purposes. _And that's a role she's played and relished for years now. And she was aunt to Wendy to, not that that girl gave a shit.

Roxy has a degree in photo journalism but while _National Geographic_ never bothered to call her, a certain biker with a heart of gold did - repeatedly until she agreed to go out with him. The rest as they say is history.

So, she got the guy, not the job, but she's hella-fine with that. Her job isn't with _NG_, hell it isn't even with _Alabama Heritage Quarterly_. Roxy Parker is currently employed at ** 'Bama Glamour **(_that's pronounced __**GLAMA**__ for all of you not familiar with the southern art of shortening things that needn't be and drawing out that which is probably best left on the truncated side_). It's a glamour photography shop where they do your make up and hair, dress you in attire that you'd normally not be caught dead in, then take photos of you to give to the special people in your life.

Roxy spends the better part of her week there and she'll square off against anyone who dare argue that it's a cake-walk. It is a challenging job considering some of the raw material she has to work with. Not everyone is cut out to be glamorous and there is only so much of a miracle that can be performed with concealer and creative lighting.

Lately though the job has been lacking something and that something is Vix. Vix had hung around **BG **for years; first as a gopher, then an opinionated assistant, then when she went to an accelerated beauty school and got her license she (when she wasn't playing at construction with BB and the boys) became a full-fledged Glamour-tician... until California called.

Roxy was just finishing up her second shooting of the day, some bored housewife who was wanting to rekindle a spark in her marriage by having pictures of herself lookin' like Dolly Parton, when she heard Rice at the front desk squeal, "Oh my friggin' gawd! Vix Parker is that you?"

Roxy paused with her finger on the camera trigger. She smiled at the woman, "Would you excuse me for just a quick second?"

Not waiting for a reply, Roxy ducked out of the studio and walked into the lobby. She spotted Rice on the phone, smiling from ear to ear. "Hang on doll, she's right here." Rice thrust the phone at Roxy, "It's Vix."

Roxy nodded, sat her camera on the desk and took the phone, "Hello, baby girl. What? No I'm needing to wrap up a shoot but then I've got..." She glanced at Rice who flipped open the schedule and waited with pencil eraser poised to clear Roxy's schedule. "…No one scheduled 'til 2. Why what's going on? You sound overly excited for 8 AM – Cali time….if you're sure you're alright. Ok, baby... I'll holler back at ya just as soon as I'm through here….ok, bye now."

Roxy handed the phone back to Rice. She eyed the young woman who had been Vix's good friend for the better part of a decade. "She say anything to you? 'Bout what's goin' on?"

"Nope and when you talk to her again tell her I am still waitin' on my damn picture of this man of hers. She makes him sound like heaven in blue jeans or somethin'."

Roxy smiled and nodded, thinking of Juice. "He's something alright. I'll remind her… let me go finish up with _Dolly _in there and then get to the bottom of it."

_**XXX**_

BB Parker brought his Harley to a stop in the driveway of his home with a sigh. It had been a long, hard day overseeing the construction of the new town library. Parker and Sons Construction, LLC had won the bid to build the place. Parker and Sons was still a throw back to when his daddy had started up the company. The _and Sons_ was meant to mean BB and his older brother JJ. But now with both his daddy and JJ gone, it was just BB but he figured the name was as good as any so he kept it even though he didn't have any sons; he had no biological children whatsoever. What he did have were Jaci and Vix…and all the souvenirs and scars that came with raising them. They may not have been his biologically but he'll be damned if they aren't in every other way.

All BB wanted to do was relax but as soon as he pushed through the front door and smelled the aroma of pot roast cooking, he doubted relaxing would be in the cards. Making pot roast was Roxy's subtle way of telling him that they needed to talk and that the subject matter was likely going to raise his blood pressure a few notches. After kicking off his boots in the mud room, he thought to himself, _fuck it… I'm gonna enjoy the damn meal first._

Roxy greeted him with a smile, a '_hey baby'_ and a kiss, then ushered him to the table. They ate their meal and then he pushed back his plate and said to his wife, "Ok hit me."

She inhaled deeply and pushed an envelope across the table at him. He eyed it suspiciously, "What the shit is that?"

"Why don't you take a look and find out for yourself?" Roxy replied demurely.

BB rolled his eyes knowing damn well that she not only knew what was inside but that she'd explain it a hellva lot better than he could understand just reading it. "Why don't you just tell me what it is? I know you've already picked a side on whatever it is."

Roxy rolled her eyes and picked the envelope back up. "It's a college loan application." She announced with a big smile on her face.

BB had not been sure what the envelope contained but that certainly wasn't amongst his guesses. He frowned, "I thought Jaci was done with all her schooling."

"Oh, it's not for J." Roxy grinned to the point it practically took up her whole face.

"You decide to take some courses?"

She shook her head and decided to spell it out. "It's for Vix!"

BB just stared at his wife like the world was on the brink of implosion. "Excuse me?"

Roxy gushed out all the details and BB just listened and shook his head, trying to wrap his head around it. "Vix called this mornin'. Then she faxed these here papers to me over at 'Bama Glama. She decided to open a business and she thinks taking this certificate program at the community college out there would serve her well. Apparently Jaci is co-signing the business loan, so she can't co-sign the student loans and ..."

BB held up his hand. "Whoa. We're talkin' Vix? Our Vix? Vix Parker? Wants to go to SCHOOL? Take actual classes that require book readin' and tests and shit?"

"Mmm hmm. Ain't it great?"

BB sighed and cracked his neck. "_Great_ is NOT exactly the word I would use... but ok… NO! Wait. Not _**ok**_, either…cause you know how this is gonna turn out. This is gonna be like every other idea of hers that you seem to think is a firecracker and turns out to be a dud."

Roxy glared at him. "Why can't you just be supportive?"

"WHY? Why couldn't we get that girl to go to school when it was FREE? But now that it is gonna cost…" He glanced at the paper and groaned. "…a helluva lot of damn money, she is ready and willin'."

He stood up and walked to the cabinet where they kept the alcohol. Roxy followed him "Motivation and outlook change with age, Billy. You must admit that she is not the same girl she was when she left here months ago."

BB takes a swig of the drink he had poured and shook his head. "She ain't all that different either, baby."

Roxy crossed her arms over her chest and began tappin' her toe. "If you won't sign those papers... I WILL!"

"Fine, fine." He held up his hands up in surrender. "But in three months from now, when she is using those books as end tables and paper weights, I reserve the right to say _I told you so_."

Roxy smiled knowing she had won. "Our baby is goin' to college!" She squealed and hugged him.

Once she let go, BB asked, "Jaci agreed to go into business with Vix?"

"Sorta" Roxy says. BB just chuckled as she continued to explain, "Jaci is more like the silent partner who makes sure everything is legit and government compliant."

"Mmm hmmm. And what business exactly?"

Roxy grinned. "A hair salon and day spa called, get this ... _**TWISTED SCISSORS.**_" She squealed again, "Get it?"

He nodded. "Oh, I get it. And along with it a sudden headache... or maybe that pain is located a bit lower." He replied while pointing towards his ass.

"Oh come on Billy, be happy for our girls. Now all you gotta do is sign in all the places where Vix put little stars and then I can fax 'em back to her." She produced a pen, seemingly out of thin air. "I got a pen right here"

"You girls are gonna be the death of me, you know that right?" He said as he sat down to sign the papers. She nodded. He shook his head, "Just so you know."

"That's why I make sure to pay the life insurance premiums, baby." Roxy said with absolute adoration and total sarcasm.

_**XXX**_

_**Back to Charming, California:**_

'_Go West young man… haven't you been told, California is full of whiskey, women and gold...'_

Toby Keith sang in the back ground as Juice walked into the club house and wrinkled his nose. "What's that smell?" He looked over at Chibs who was in the kitchen area cooking. "It smells like you're frying vomit!"

The Scotsman chuckled, "Close. I'm making a great big pot of Haggis."

"What the fuck is that?" Juice asked and ventured over for a closer look. He gagged when the pot lid was lifted. "Oh my god, close it! Quick!"

"Come on, man. It's just minced sheep's pluck with onions, oatmeal, spices and the like simmerin' in some broth."

"And what part is pluck?" Juice asked.

"You really want to know the answer?" Piney chuckled and yawned from his seat on the couch.

"How can you sleep with this stench?" Juice asked.

Piney shrugged and pointed to the oxygen tube at his nose, "My air is pure."

"Never mind him. Haggis is the heart, liver, lungs… cooked inside the stomach." Chibs enlightened with a grin.

"That is nasty dude."

Chibs continued, "And you serve it with neeps and tatties."

"I definitely don't want to fuckin' know what they are." Juice replied retreating from the kitchen. As he heard the Scotsman advise that they are other words for potatoes, he added. "There is something seriously wrong with Scottish people."

Jax entered the club house and immediately yelled, "Holy fuck! What is that smell?"

"Sheep parts." Juice muttered as he made a b-line for the door.

Jax grimaced and then nodded at Juice. "Vix just rolled up." Juice nodded and walked out the door. Jax walked over to Chibs, "Have you been drinking?"

"Ay, lots and lots of Scotch." Chibs replied with a smile. "Large amounts go hand in hand with haggis."

"Drunk off my ass, I ain't sure I could eat that shit, man." Jax shuddered and turned to retreat back outside.

_**XXX**_

"The contractors totally sucked baby." Vix said, sitting on the hood of her car in the lot of Teller Morrow while talking to Juice who was standing in front of her. "Jaci and I were like _fuck you! _You shoulda seen her, she was all like counting on her fingers going… _A) We'd never pay that much ... B) I know for a fact that that same material cost a quarter of that price at the Home Depot store … so your supposed claim to be selling it to me at __cost__ and only charging labor is total BS!_"

Vix giggled. "Oh and the best was and C) ... well, y'all SEE your way outta our place of business. We'll do this our damn selves!" Vix clapped her hands and laughed. "God, I love my sister!"

"So you two are planning on doing everything yourselves?" Juice asked.

"Everything we are capable of and believe me, we are capable of plenty. We Parkers are not just pretty faces, you know." Vix winked at him. "You shoulda seen some of the jobs we assisted on down in 'Bama. Almost blew myself up once." Vix mused and Juice groaned. She shrugged, "Ok, bad example. But there were lots of times that I didn't almost die!"

Gemma poked her head out of the office door and yelled, "Vix! You got a fax from Roxy."

Vix smiled and waved, "Thanks Gemma, be right there." She pumped her fist in the air. "Yes! Ok, that would be my school loan agreements. Have you decided which side of the fence you're landin' on in that regard?"

Juice shrugged. "I'm not on the fence, baby. I'm just worried you're spreading yourself too thin. Gutting the salon and remodeling it and doing hair outta your sister's kitchen while you are rebuilding it… add school on top of that… and then running the place with school and shit."

"Baby, I can do this. I am very motivated to make this happen… all of it. I just need your support."

"That goes without saying." Juice smiled and kissed her forehead.

"Well, your support…and your credit card." She smiled. "I have to buy books. I'll pay you back as soon as the loans come in."

He dug in his wallet and handed her his credit card. She smiled and kissed him. "Thank you, baby. Hey are you free this afternoon? You want to drive to Stockton with me to get the books?"

He nodded, "I'll check, see what Clay has planned for me. See if I can swing a couple of hours off. Hey how are things going with the clean out?"

Vix grinned. "Good, Jaci's there now workin' on scraping that god awful wall paper off the upstairs rooms. Mary is dropping Ellie and Kenny off after school to help with that and since Moby won't be there today, there will be less chance of another water gun fight erupting."

She caught Juice's questioning look and explained. "Moby and Kenny were in charge of wetting down the wall paper for easier removal, and I made the mistake of giving them super-soakers, thinking that would be cooler than buckets and sponges. And well spraying the walls lasted all of five minutes before a full on water gun fight broke out."

"Nice." Juice grinned. "You got all the big stuff out?"

Vix nodded. "Umm hmm, J and I hauled the last of it out last night. That dumpster we rented is about overflowin'. The only good news we got from the bastard contractors was that the tiling is in superb condition. Thank god for small favors. So we don't have to remove and replace it all, just rip up the carpeting and linoleum upstairs and install a new sub-floor and tile up there."

"When's Luann's lighting dude coming to run the super duty for the tanning beds?"

Vix rolled her eyes. "Jaci thinks we need to re-think using him. According to her he may be all _window dressing_, like look good doin' the job but she's worried about his skill level. She's weighing the discount Luann got us against the cost of possibly having the place burnt up if he does a shoddy job. But anyway, I gotta be at the school at 11 o'clock, shouldn't be more than like an hour or two, probably closer to two with driving back and forth." She smiled and hugged him spontaneously. "Love you."

He stole a kiss, "I'll check with Clay." She nodded and then jogged to the office to get her fax. Juice strolled to the garage bays.

Tig had been watching Vix and Juice with a frown. When Juice got closer, he asked the young biker, "What did you just give her?"

"Credit card. She's gotta get some books for school." Juice replied.

Tig shook his head. "The ONLY reason you give money to a bitch is for beer, bud, smokes, rubbers or an abortion."

"That's quite a list, Tigger." Juice said with a smirk.

Half Sack frowned from his place on the other side of the car they were working on. "Um, what about food?"

"Shut the fuck up." Tig snapped. He looked at Juice, who was smiling. He pointed a finger harshly at him, 'You're a pussy whipped moron."

Juice kept smiling and walked onward to the office to find Clay. "Whatever, dude."

_**XXX**_

Turns out Clay couldn't spare Juice for the afternoon and Vix braved the college bookstore alone which had proved to be interesting to say the least. The interstate was jammed as Vix was trying to get back home to Charming. She veered off the next exit she came across and ventured to find a short cut. She'd just heard the latest commercial for some delicious sounding new burger when she drove past a Roadhouse Bar and Grill type establishment. She made a split second decision to stop – she was starving and thirsty and the sign indicated that this place could cure her of both those little issues.

As she parked the car, she surveyed the parking lot. _Not a bike in sight, good. _No worries, at least at first glance, of the place being some rivals' hang out. As she entered the dimly lit establishment, she was overwhelmed by a sense of being back home in 'Bama. This bar was a real deal roadhouse, like it was transported whole from some place south of the Bible belt and wasn't some _tyrin' too hard and missing by a mile trendy wannabe_. A wave of homesickness washed over her. She closed her eyes and pushed that deep down inside, she's happy in Cali – it's where her future lies.

She looked to her right and saw a small stage enclosed in chicken wire from floor to ceiling and for when live music wasn't available, there stood a jukebox. It looked both by size and design like it might be able to fly her and possibly a companion to the moon. There was a dance floor with ample space to _shake-your-groove-thing_ and a bank of pool tables along the far side of the room. Clusters of tables and chairs were scattered here and there for dining and gathering purposes.

A sign was nailed to the wall at the start of a small hallway, directing people to the rest rooms and a small private seating area. Double half-doors blocked a doorway that she assumed lead to the kitchen. And then there was the bar… a mammoth beast that nearly ran the entire length of the wall in front of her. It made of some rich, dark wood that had been polished to a warm glow complete with a brass foot rail and stand alone wooden stools.

At one end of the bar were two gentlemen, the only current inhabitants of the entire place. One was seated as a customer and one was standing behind the bar with hand paused in the act of wiping down the gleaming top. Both men were watching her and thinking she must be lost. They were used to seeing a pack of college kids during the weekends, but hardly ever any singles and then again she didn't really look the college type. She looked more the type to beat up college girls. And she certainly wasn't one of the regular Joe types that came in around 5pm after a hard day's work.

She walked over to the bar and sat down atop one of the stools. The older man behind the bar nodded in greeting, "Hello Darlin', welcome to _**Big Daddy's**_. What can I get for ya?" He waited for her to ask for directions to somewhere.

Vix inhaled sharply. His southern draw has lost a bit of its edge over the years, she bet he had been living up North for too long, but it was still detectable. A 2nd wave of home sickness hit her again but she quickly shook it off. She smiled, "What ya'll got on tap?"

The man smiled. "Well now… what do we have here? A southern belle in our midst?"

Vix grinned. "Not exactly, um… I think that line _bad mamba-jama from down in Alabama_, would ring a bit more true. And I'm thinkin' you're from somewhere in Texas. You sound just like someone I know and he's from Midland."

"You got a good ear. I'm originally from Round Rock, just outsida Austin." The bar keeper had thinning grey hair and a mustache and looked to be in his mid sixties but still had enough bulk to him that one might think twice before starting a fight with the old man. He smiled and rattled off the list of beers on tap. Vix selected one and ordered a burger with potato wedges.

She took a few drinks from her first beer and waited on her food to arrive. She eyed the guy sitting at the end of bar. He was a tall skinny man with slicked back dark hair and eyes that sort of bulged out of his head. He might have been in his mid fifties but it was hard to tell. He looked like he enjoyed a drink…maybe too much and that much drinking often skewed the age guessing. She cocked her head and mused that he sort of struck her as a guy that might have bodies buried in the basement of his house. Oddly enough, he still looked friendly, though.

She ordered another beer and enjoyed her burger while conversing with the two men. They made small talk about where she was from, where she was living now and what she was doing stopping into the bar.

"So you decided to up and open a hair salon and start school? Both at the same time?" The bartender asked and then winced. "Seems like you may be biting off a bit more than you can handle, darlin'."

"Oh Corbin, leave the girl alone." The other man chided. "I'm all for higher education and the higher you are at the time the better too." He let loose a semi creepy laugh at his own joke.

Corbin shook his head. "Never mind Larry there, he's bitter. Used to be a big shot University teacher." He waved his hands around sarcastically.

"_Professor_." Larry corrected. "Christ if you're gonna tell my life story, you could at least get the details right."

Vix smiled. "So you used to teach, huh?"

Larry sighed. "Once upon a time…"

"I may call upon your brilliance." Vix warned. "I've never been real good at school and shit… and I have a lot of people depending on me this time, a lot of stuff on the line so if I run into some trouble I may look you up."

"You know where to find me." Larry said with a smile and pointed down at the bar top. "I'm always here."

"And he does mean ALWAYS!" Corbin chimed in. "Got his damn name carved into the stool."

Vix laughed as Larry shifted a bit to reveal the carving. The two men were growing on her quickly. Like the other people in her family, Vix would talk to a damn fence post so to speak which made for strangers quickly being upgraded to acquaintances and then to friends. She had a good feeling about these guys and felt a little bit bad for initially thinking Larry might be a serial killer.

"Is it always this quiet here in the afternoons?" Vix asked.

Larry nodded as Corbin shrugged, "Not always… but for the most part it picks up 'round five or six."

"Cool, I may use this as a study hall." Vix mused.

"Got a two drink minimum." Corbin reminded as he jabbed his thumb to a sign on the back of the bar.

Vix grinned. "Not a problem." She glanced at the clock next to the sign. "Holy shit! I gotta be getting home… a friend of mine is coming home today, having a party."

She settled up her tab and left, throwing the guys a wave over her shoulder. "Nice meetin' ya'll!"

Corbin and Larry stared at each other for a moment after Vix left.

"I like her." Larry declared. "Like a spunky gothy bikery tornado or something."

"Bikery tornado? Hmmm? Seems like a good girl, to me."

"Your definition of _good girl_ must differ greatly from mine, my friend." Larry says with a chuckle. "I suppose you're just saying that 'cause she's Southern; thinkin' you have some bullshit kinship with her."

Corbin grinned. "Not true at all. We Texans don't see ourselves as _Southern_. We're from Texas…and that's a big damn difference, _Professor._"

_**XXX**_

A few hours later, Jaci pulled her Mustang to a stop just down the street from the gates of Teller Morrow. Finding a parking spot had been a bitch; Bobby's coming home party was going to be huge. Vix opened the passenger side door and started to get out but stopped when she realized Jaci was still seated.

Jaci groaned and put her head down on the steering wheel. After not seeing Tig for nearly two months, she had thought she had her feelings about the breakup under control. She had avoided Charming for as long as possible and even now that she was back in town, she was extra cautious about going places where she might accidentally bump into Tig. But now, sitting a few hundred feet from where she _knew _he would be…her attendance at the party seemed like a very bad idea. "Shit, I don't think I can do this. I feel like I'm gonna hurl. I don't think I should be invading his turf."

Vix frowned. "Oh come on! We've been over this; Bobby's your friend too. It would be rude for you not to be here."

"Yeah, but I'm going to be out of place. Everyone's gonna stare at me." Jaci answered with her head still down.

Vix shook her head. "No they won't. Only the guys know that you and Tig were even together and they won't say shit. You do NOT have a spotlight on you. It'll be fine, I promise. Hell, the other guys _miss _you. They ask about you all the time."

Jaci turned her head toward her sister and then leaned her head back against the headrest and blew out a breath. "Ok…ok." Vix was leaning back into the car. Jaci grabbed her sister's hand. "But here are the ground rules…you do NOT leave my side. I'm serious, Vix- do not leave me alone. We hang close to Juice, have a beer, and wait until Bobby gets here. We say hi, give him a hug and then we hit the road. When I say I want to go, we go…you don't drag it out, ok? Please."

Vix nodded. She hated to see her sister so upset and unsure of herself_. _"No problem. We can't stay forever anyway…Ms. Ruby's only got BINGO call coverage for the first ten games, I promised we'd be there for the rest."

'Right…AND…under NO circumstances to you say ANYTHING to Tig. I mean it, not a word!'

"What if he tries to come and talk to us?"

Jaci shook her head sadly. "That won't happen. We haven't even SEEN each other since the day he dumped me. If he had something to say to me I think he would have done it by now. I'm sure he'll ignore us."

Vix smiled, "All the more reason to go…you need to see Tig. I've seen him at the clubhouse a few times and the dude looks like shit."

"How do I look?"

"You look great." Vix replied then frowned. "Well maybe a little _tired _looking. And maybe just a bit…thicker."

"Thicker?" Jaci gasped. "Jesus, are you saying I'm fat?"

"No! Not fat…just you've put on a few pounds. Looks good on you though, athletic lookin."

Jaci put in face in her hands and shook her head. "Too much alcohol and not enough exercise…goddamn it!" She glared at Vix. "Fuck it…I'm going home."

"No you are not! You look HOT and you need to rub it in his face."

"This isn't junior high." Jaci said with a small laugh.

"Alright, we will be _subtle _then." Vix stuck out her tongue and crossed her eyes. She opened her door again, "Come on, let's do this, sis."

_**XXX**_

Half Sack spotted the girls first and nudged Juice. They watched as Vix leaned over and whispered something in Jaci's ear, Jaci smiled slightly and Vix shoved her, obviously trying to joke around with her.

Vix immediately grabbed Juice in a hug, "Oh my fuckin' god, baby!"

He nodded towards Jaci, "Hey girl!" then turned his attention back to Vix.

Vix continued her dramatic rant. "Be glad you didn't go with me for those damn books! That line was freakishly long and moved at a damn snail pace. Only thing that I can even compare it to is this one time…"

"…at Band Camp." Juice interjected with a grin.

Vix rolled her eyes. "Funny. Ha Ha! What I was gonna say… it reminded me of this one summer when I was like 9 and some of Aunt Roxy's friends took all their kids and she took me and Jaci, while we was down there on Summer vaca, to Disney World. All I remember about the trip were long ass lines and puking on Minnie Mouse."

"You threw up on Minnie Mouse?" Half Sack laughed. "Why'd you do that?"

Vix rolled her eyes at the prospect, "I don't know Kipp… maybe it was the heat and way too many lollipops bigger than my head…"

Juice shook his head and muttered, "Dumb ass" in the prospect's direction.

Half Sack blushed and then smiled at seeing Jaci who was standing to the side of Vix looking a bit ill. "Speaking of people that look like they're going to hurl…I didn't think you would come."

She nodded toward her sister. "Vix made me. That girl really doesn't understand the meaning of NO." Half Sack laughed and headed inside to get a couple of beers for the girls.

Jaci glanced around nervously, trying to spot Tig. Part of her wanted to see him, the other part was dreading it, but neither part wanted to be surprised by him. She did not want to just turn around and have him be standing there staring at her. She wanted to be in control of her reaction to him. She was snapped out of her plotting at the sound of her sister calling her.

"Jaci… J.. yoo hoo… Earth to Jaci."

"What?" Jaci questioned with a frown.

"You remember that time Roxy dragged us to Disney and I puked all over Minnie Mouse?"

Jaci nodded. "Hard to forget that trip from hell… I got third degree sunburn when ya'll let me fall asleep on the beach while you went and watched people bungee jumping off the pier. Fuckin' sun poisoning is hard to forget." Jaci said bitterly but then questioned, "Why you bringing that up?"

"The line at the campus book store reminded me of those damn lines at Disney. Well the line today was longer I swear and you didn't even get the added benefit of getting a ride at the end."

Juice hugged her close and whispered, "If you're that disappointed… I got something you can ride."

Vix cracked up and kissed his neck and whispered back, "You're such a horn dog."

Jaci rolled her eyes at the two of them and was ever so thankful when she saw Half Sack return with the beers and Chibs following behind him. The Scot saw Jaci and smiled widely. He walked up to her and hugged her. "Long time, no see, stranger."

Jaci grinned. It was damn near impossible not to grin when she heard that accent. She touched his long hair. "Chibs, man...what's up with the hair?"

Chibs puffed out his chest and winked at her. "You like it? All the ladies think its SHIT HOT!"

"Shit hot, huh?" Jaci laughed. "I've never heard it put that way, but ok. Yeah, I think it looks good."

_**XXX**_

The girls hung around the small group of guys, laughing and chatting. Well, Jaci mostly just stood there and smiled politely but it was better than nothing. She couldn't shake that feeling of being out of place; hell she would have felt that way even if she had still been with Tig. Loud biker parties just weren't her thing; even back in Bama, she would only show up to help with setup and then cleanup the next day. Vix always fit right in though and would party the night away with the best of them.

Jaci continued to scan the crowd every few minutes and she finally spotted Tig just after he came out of the clubhouse. Her breath caught and she dropped her eyes quickly to the pavement. Her heart pounded in her chest. She ventured another look and found him talking to Happy. Vix had been right, he did look like shit.

She frowned as she watched him. He looked tired, worn out actually and was in desperate need of a haircut. Was the club making a group effort to look shaggy? If so, she thought Tig should bow out because the longer hair was not doing him any favors. It just made him look more disheveled. She looked back down at the pavement and mulled over what she was feeling at the moment. The overwhelming feeling seemed to be curiosity. Why did he look so tired? Did it have anything to do with her? Club stuff? Did he think about her?

"You ok?" Vix suddenly whispered from her side.

Jaci looked up. "Huh?"

"I saw you spot him. You alright?"

Jaci nodded but whispered back. "Did he spot us?"

Vix shook her head. "Don't think so."

Tig had actually spotted Jaci the moment he stepped out of the clubhouse. His eyes had been looking forward and had happened to land on Juice and Vix. Chibs had stepped to the side at that same moment and had revealed her standing there, holding a beer. Tig stopped abruptly and stared at her. She was biting her lip, had to be nervous.

He figured Vix had dragged her here; Jaci would have never come on her own. Someone bumped into him from behind and he realized he was blocking the door to the clubhouse. He sauntered over to talk with Happy and a few guys that had ridden down for the party. He tried to ignore that fact that she was just across the parking lot from him but found himself sneaking looks at her.

She pretty much looked the same as she had two months ago, which meant she looked _good._ Tig took that as a good sign; maybe she had taken the breakup ok. He hadn't wanted to hurt her, just wanted her to move on from him…that was the best thing for every one involved.

_**XXX**_

Chibs piped up, 'So Parker, did you get your books?"

Jaci groaned. "Don't get her started on the lines, PLEASE! I tried to warn her to get there early…"

"Early? Early wouldn't have cut it… I think some of those kids fuckin' camped out or some shit." Vix exclaimed. "I left my iPod in the car, thinking I'd be quick in and out, but OH NO. By the time I made it to the head of the class, I was starving, thirsty, had to piss and my feet hurt from those new boots you bought me." She glanced at Juice. "And then I about went into sticker shock at the cost of the damn things. Speaking of, I totally tapped out your credit card – MAX'd it." She mouthed _sorry_ in Juice's direction and he nodded although he wondered how the hell a few books could cost that much.

Jaci laughed. "I remember standing in line for hours at the end of the semester to sell books _back. _Wait three hours to get twenty five bucks on a book that cost ya two hundred."

"How the hell can a book cost two hundred dollars?" Juice asked. He looked at Vix, who just nodded in verification of her sister's claim.

Chibs cocked his head in thought. "It's just paper and shit, right? It's not made of gold or handing out blow jobs or anything." He snapped his fingers and grinned. "Ah, speaking of blowjobs…I bet that college of your is FULL of sweet young things."

Vix shrugged. "Yeah, I guess…pretty much. The gang was all there today, saw.. _jocks, geeks, stoners, loners, stuck up bitches_… _and a dove in_, I think it was _a dogwood tree_."

The Scotsman shook his head. "Man…if I was a decade younger."

"I always thought about goin' to college." Half Sack piped up randomly. He scratched at his wiry head of hair. "You know they got that GI Bill stuff. I did my military time, could probably go to school on the government's dime."

Just as Jaci was going to encourage Half Sack, Chibs burst out laughing. He clapped a hand on the young kid's shoulder. "And what pray tell would you take, Prospect? There aren't any degrees in General Jackassery that I ever heard of."

"HA! Find one of those programs and you could have your Doctorate in no time, Sack!" Vix teased.

The group had a good laugh and Half Sack blushed. Chibs lit up a cigarette and nodded at Vix, changing the subject. "How goes the salon shit? Need any man power? I'll let you have the Prospect for a few days."

"Thanks…but no thanks." Vix replied. "J and I are going all _Independent Women _on this shit. We won't need you guys for anything."

Jaci cleared her throat and cocked her head at Vix who grinned. "Oh wait, duh. We are going to need to borrow some heavy duty tools."

Juice grinned and Vix grinned right back. "Yes baby, I just want you for your TOOL."

Chibs let out a laugh. Juice nodded. "Sure thing just drop by TM, babe. We'll hook ya up." … then he slipped his arm around Vix's waist, "on second thought, I think I'm gonna _hook her up_ right now, we'll be back in a bit." She started to walk away with him when she caught a look in her sister's eyes. She whispered something to him and walked back over to Jaci. "You're alright, right?"

"What happened to not leaving your wingman?" Jaci hissed.

"Half Sack will keep you company…we'll be back in a bit."

Jaci rolled her eyes and stare hard at her little sister, "Are you two going for Guinness or something?"

"The beer?" Vix asked with confusion.

"NO! Not the beer, Vix!" She snapped. "The world record… I swear all you two do is go at it."

"Whatever! Just because you ain't gettin' any… goin' on what two months now? Don't take that out on those of us who are." Vix fired back. "Speaking of… there are some eligible guys all over this place tonight, why don't you get you some. Then maybe you won't be such a raving bitch!"

"Did you just call me a bitch?" Jaci asked with shock in her voice.

"Raving! To be exact." Vix countered.

From over by the club house entrance, Juice hollered, "VIX! YOU GONNA COME OR WHAT?"

Vix grinned and hollered back. "I WILL IF YOU DO EVERYTHING JUST RIGHT."

Her response garnered laughs from those within earshot.

Vix winked at her sister, "Love you sis. Be back shortly." She ran over to where Juice was waiting.

"Yeah, yeah." Jaci grumbled and walked to stand closer to Half Sack and Chibs. That raving bitch comment should have made her mad but Jaci knew it was true. She was snappy lately and needed to calm down.

_**XXX**_

"You want another beer?" Half Sack asked.

Jaci desperately did and started to answer yes but then she realized that either the Prospect would leave her to go get it or she would have to walk with him into the clubhouse, neither of which she wanted. She expected Chibs to wander off at any moment and she didn't want to be left alone. "No, I'm fine."

"Bullshit." Chibs coughed out. "Here." He pulled a cigarette from his pack and handed it to her. She took it gratefully and he held out his lighter to fire it up for her. He winked at her as she inhaled deeply.

She blew out a stream of smoke and grinned a bit sheepishly. _Am I that obviously pathetically nervous? Don't really need another bad habit…but hey whatever works, right?_

Jaci and Tig ventured little glances at each other for the next half-hour or so. They quickly perfected the art of not getting busted. _Stare at your feet for a moment, then glance up and take a sweep of the lot, make sure your target isn't looking at you at that particular moment, if they aren't, then lock onto them, hold the stare for around thirty seconds then glance down again._

He shook his head as he watched her. He had thought at first glance she was ok, but on closer inspection, she wasn't. _If I slapped my hands together behind her, she'd jump out of her skin. _He wondered when the hell she had started smoking. She spent her moments wondering what he had been up to the last few months. She decided she probably didn't really want to know.

_**XXX**_

Their covert staring game was interrupted by a black sedan pulling into the TM lot. Everyone turned their attention to the car, thinking Bobby was inside. People were puzzled when a guy in a suit stepped out, flanked by a fierce looking man covered in tattoos, sort of a rock n roll Jehovah's witness. The pair surveyed the crowd as they approached and were accompanied by a small entourage of men.

They had returned to the crowd and Juice had his arm around Vix while they watched the visitors who obviously didn't belong at the party. When Clay and Tig made a move to greet the men, the rest of the SAMCRO guys followed suit in a show of unity. Left alone, Vix looked at Jaci and shrugged. The girls walked around the backside of the group of Sons and went to stand by Gemma. As the man in the suit started talking to Clay, Jaci looked over the men in the entourage and her eyes froze on the man that had nearly choked her to death the hospital stairwell, Hoover.

Vix leaned over to her sister and whispered, "Is that the guy? The one in the cast?"

Jaci nodded as her fingers turned to fists at her sides. Hoover's arm was still in a cast after being broken in several places by Motor. She had given Vix the short version of events concerning the Nord drama, leaving out the fact that she had fully believed she was going to die during the attack. Oddly, seeing the Nord didn't scare her, it made her furious. She half wished for another opportunity to go head to head with Hoover, preferably with a weapon this time.

Tig noticed the man at the same time and his anger flared. He sneered at Hoover and leaned toward Clay. "That's one of Darby's guys right there. How's the arm, asshole?" Hoover just glared at Tig.

The discussion between the visitors and the Sons became increasingly intense as Zoebel blatantly warned SAMCRO to stop their gun running in Charming. Tig pulled his gun and checked off threats in his head. The first threat was Weston, he was the main muscle; shoot him and the others would freeze. Next would be Zoebel just for trying to piss on SAMCRO. But if any bullets were going to fly, Tig had resolved that Hoover would be catching the first one in the forehead as payback for jumping Jaci.

"Are you going to shoot me, Mr. Trager?" Zoebel asked.

Jaci frowned. She stole a glance sideways at Gemma who had the same look on her face. For some reason, hearing the intruder say Tig's name like that unnerved her. Maybe because it meant that the guy had done his research on the club, that he might know every patch holder by name and God knew what else. Her brain made a further leap; if Zoebel was associated with Darby, what all did he know about the Parker sisters?

Vix leaned over and whispered again, "The one with the tats gives me the creeps, evil looking fucker."

"The one in the suit worries me more." Jaci answered. _Damn, does the drama ever end in this town?_

After several intense minutes of posturing and threatening, Zoebel and his posse turned to leave. Tig and Happy stalked down the driveway as the car left, sort of silent watchmen just looking for a reason to attack. Jaci smiled slightly while she watched them; thinking those were the only guys here that could match that creepy Weston for intensity and killer tendencies. She absently wished Motor was at the party just for further backup.

As he walked back toward the party, Tig scanned the crowd and found Jaci blatantly watching him. He thought she might be a little scared after seeing Hoover but she was clearly pissed off instead. Looking at her, he suddenly wished she hadn't come to the party. She hadn't been around the shop or the Sons in a while and the one night she did show up there was a damn Nazi parade, putting her right back on Darby's radar. _Goddamnit, you need to stay away. _

The pair held a stare as he walked by. Jaci thought about nodding at him but didn't know if she should or not. He kept his face neutral and broke the eye contact first and made his way to Clay to talk about the intrusion.

_**XXX**_

Vix wanted to go with Juice back into the clubhouse while he looked for some info on the LOAN crew. Jaci waved her away and again looked for someone for someone to talk to. She was standing next to Gemma; surely there would be no Tig interaction with that sort of company around her.

Gemma glanced at Jaci, "Lookin' 'round for a new baby sitter, sweetie? Seen you cleverly keeping yourself attached to anybody's hip all night. I think you're far to smart to believe that if HE really wanted to talk to you that you having a quasi-chaperone would matter."

"Nothin' gets by you, does it Gemma? Even the small stuff."

"I keep an eye on what matters... and don't let size fool you. Sometimes that small shit causes the most damage...likely because people think they can overlook it." Gemma smirked as she reached over and picked a stray string off the back of should of Jaci's shirt. "You know you look like the damn GAP version of a biker chick."

Jaci looked at her ripped jeans and black t-shirt and replied sarcastically. "At least I'm not wearing khakis." Both women laughed. "I had forgotten these parties were such tit and ass parades."

"Surely they showed some skin down at the Bama clubhouse." Gemma chided. "You're not a virgin when it comes to club ways."

"Nope…but I was just more of a weekender and Vix was more of a hang around… who nobody messed with. BB had a real issue with any of the guys fuckin' with either of us." Jaci mused.

Gemma snorted. "Then you two roll into this town and you hook up with our SAA…" She nodded to where Vix followed behind Juice. "… and she gets all sorts of intertwined with Juice, over there." Gemma shook her head. "Well… well… well... Uncle BB must be just thrilled." She paused and pondered, "But at least one of you came to your senses hmm? Your sister, though... she's more cut out for all of this." She winked at the Parker sister that stood next to her. "Not anything against you, darlin'… just observing."

Jaci smiled slightly and threw her hands up. "No offense taken...I totally agree."

The women watched the party pick back up around them. Gemma's tone turned more serious. "It took some balls to show up here tonight though…good for you."

Jaci just shook her head and kept her eyes forward. "Wasn't my idea, but then Vix has balls enough for both of us." She smiled at Gemma. "Keeps 'em in her jewelry box at home, takes 'em for special occasions. We're just here to see Bobby and then we are out."

"How are you doing with everything?" Gemma asked.

Jaci's eyes found Tig standing across the parking lot talking to Clay. "I'm assuming by everything, you mean _him_?" She shrugged. "I'm fine."

"I'm a woman…I know what _fine_ means, honey."

Jaci sighed. "Ok…I _thought _I was fine until I got her tonight. Now I think it all sucks, but what are you gonna do, right?"

"Well, you had to know the end was coming eventually."

"Yeah, but I thought _eventually_ would be a bit longer down the road." Jaci looked over the party and then back at the SAMCRO matriarch. "Guess me being with him was kind of dumb huh?"

Gemma shrugged. "Everybody's entitled to a fling now and then."

Those words stung Jaci a bit. _Fling. _Everyone that knew about her and Tig, with the exception of Vix, probably thought that's all it had been…a fling that lasted longer than normal. She hated all those months being reduced down to something so cheap sounding. Jaci knew what she and Tig had been through was more than a fling… or hell maybe that was just wishful thinking on her part.

Jaci frowned and hated herself for the question she was about to ask but she really needed to hear the answer and knew Gemma would shoot her straight. "Has he said anything…about me or the breakup or whatever?"

Gemma smirked at her like she was dumb. "When Tig Trager opens up about relationship feelings and shit... you better keep an eye out for the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse cause the end of the goddamn world is near."

She noticed the sad look in Jaci's stare. She was putting up a good front but that girl was still hurting. Gemma thought for a moment and then asked, "It's tough isn't it? Being on the fringe; not outlaw enough for one side but not civilian enough for the other."

Jaci turned to look at Gemma and nodded. "Yeah…I hang with my family, outsiders think I am slumming yet if I branch out, I get told I'm abandoning my roots. But apparently the world stops spinning on its axis if I mess around with a SON. It's… tricky, to say the least. Any advice on that?"

Gemma thought for a moment and then smirked again. "To Thine OWN self be true." She gave Jaci's shoulder a squeeze and walked away as Vix returned. "Your official chaperone has returned."

"What was that about?" Vix asked as she studied the confused look on her sister's face.

"Gemma just quoted Shakespeare to me." Jaci cocked her head trying to figure out Gemma's advice but was in no mood for introspection…maybe later.

Thankfully Bobby's Fed transport arrived a few minutes later. The huge crowd went wild as soon as he stepped out of the car. Juice threw Bobby's cut on him and the Sons mobbed their friend with hugs. Stahl and Clay exchanged fake pleasantries as the Parkers watched the agent with blatant hate. Stahl glanced over at Jaci and Vix just as she was lowering herself back into the passenger seat of her car.

Vix threw her arm around her sister's neck, pulling her into a half hug and smirked widely at Stahl, sort of a _yeah, we're still here, you couldn't touch us _gesture. Jaci crossed her arms and just stared coldly at the agent. Stahl nodded solemnly at the girls and a slight smile played at Jaci's lips.

"Fuck that bitch." Vix whispered and Jaci nodded.

Tig watched the girls has they postured at Stahl. Oh how he would love to kill that ATF bitch slowly and painfully for the all the damage she had caused the club, all the shit she had put everyone through. An image of Donna slumped bleeding and dead against the steering wheel of Op's truck bloomed in his mind. He blinked his eyes hard to make the image go away. He looked at Jaci sadly…their relationship had been collateral damage from Stahl's wrath but only he and Clay really understood that.

Bobby suddenly appeared in front of the Parkers and they hollered with delight in seeing him. He grabbed each one of them and smacked them full on the lips and hugged them.

He looked at Vix and pulled his wild hair out to the sides with both hands. "Look at this shit! You got hook a brother up!" Vix laughed and told him miracles would be performed if he came to dinner Sunday at their house, she'd cut his hair over the sink if she had to.

Jaci couldn't contain the huge smile on her face at seeing her friend and Tig almost smiled involuntarily before he caught himself. The little devil in his head was pissed. _What the hell is wrong with you? She's been here an hour and is already fucking with your head again. You hadn't thought of Donna in a week but you lay eyes on HER and your mind goes to shit again. No distractions, too much is on the line now. Stop making googly eyes at her and get her the fuck out of here. _

Tig forced himself to turn his amused stare into a glare. She looked over Bobby's shoulder and locked eyes with him. He frowned harshly at her for a second and she looked at him with confusion. He turned his head away from her, willing her to leave. _Stupid goddamn woman…you spent all day jacking around with a salon…I shot a guy's face off a few hours ago to cover my ass. Stop fuckin' staring at me and GO HOME!_

Jaci took the look from him like a slap to the face, swallowed hard and stared at the ground. She was confused by the sudden shift in his look. He had been distant all night but hadn't looked hostile…until now. _So that's how it's going to be?_ _What the fuck did I do to you? Asshole._

Bobby was whisked away to the clubhouse by the crowd and the girls said a quick round of goodbyes and headed for their car.

"I saw that evil eye Tig gave you. What the fuck?"

Jaci shrugged. "Don't know. He flipped his asshole switch on…I can't read him when he's like that. No telling what was going through his head."

"So…do you love him or hate him?"

"It's complicated…not black and white. You can't just turn feelings off, Vix." Although the longer she thought about it, the Tig she saw tonight was a million miles away from the man she loved. There was just something off about him.

Vix snorted. "Well, looks like he did."

Jaci shook her head and she unlocked the car. "He fronts a lot."

"Well, you need to stop straddling the fence unless you _like _having a picket stuck up your ass. I need to know what side to be on here." Vix retorted as she clicked her seat belt. When her sister remained silent, she sighed and said, "Well I'm hating him until you tell me different. I've been cool so far…Tigger and me have just ignored each other. But if I'm alone with him now, _he's_ getting the evil eye and his new name is Fuckhead!"

Jaci smiled. "Damn you're loyal, sis."

Vix nodded. "Fuckin A right I am!"

_**XXX**_

Jaci tried to put on a happy face the rest of the night at BINGO but her thoughts kept straying back to Tig and the party. She couldn't help wondering who would be going home with him that night.

Hours later, Tig stumbled over to where Clay was sitting. After seeing Jaci he had the overwhelming urge to get completely shitfaced drunk. The huge amounts of alcohol and good times around him had him feeling optimistic about the future. He really thought he could get past the shifty ground he was currently standing on with Clay and the rest of the Club. Op had been placated for now with the Mayan killing, giving him time to figure out how to handle Jax's sure to be impending revenge. For the first time in a while, he didn't feel like he was waist deep in quicksand.

He declared that Bobby was asleep face down in Red Bush Mountain which earned a big laugh from the Prez. Maybe time would heal all wounds with the Club and they really could come out the other side of all this pain. The pair sat silently for a moment and watched the party.

Clay finally spoke. "So did you talk to her?"

Tig frowned. "Who?"

Clay returned his frown, knowing his friend was doing a piss poor job of playing dumb.

Tig shook his head and looked straight ahead, his good mood suddenly gone. "Nah…" He waved his hand in a sloppy chopping gesture. "That's better, you know… cut and dry…no contact."

"Better for who…you or her?"

"Everybody." Tig replied with a far away look.

Clay studied his friend for a moment. He was actually glad Tig had ended things with Jaci. They all had too much to worry about right now. He didn't need his right hand man being distracted with some girlfriend happy ending bullshit. He needed him hard and cold and focused… his old self. The Donna hit had opened up an emotional hole in Tig and it needed to be closed immediately.

"Why don't you go a couple rounds with her…take your mind off things?" Clay nodded at a very scantily clad woman as she walked past.

Tig stood and replied with a halfhearted, "Yeah."

Clay watched with disappointment as Tig walked right past the woman and headed back inside the clubhouse. Tig had gone a little crazy right after he had ended things with Jaci. He had fucked pretty much every woman that he came in contact there for a week or two with but the novelty had quickly faded.

He found himself oddly preferring to be alone these days and tonight he thought he would rather fall asleep with a bottle instead of a stranger. But an hour later he changed his mind and found the blonde that Clay had pointed out to him. He was sick from all the mind games of the night. Watching Jaci act like she was fine, him pretending to not give a shit _Fuck all that shit. That's all relationships were; one great big giant game of Mind Fuck. _He watched as the blonde hit her knees in front of him. He closed his eyes. _Fucking mind games, __well this boy ain't playin' no more... give me recreational fuckin' with no strings attached. I'm goddamn happy with the role of Walk Away Joe._

_**XXX**_

At the back storage room of Impeccable Smokes…

"What's with the broken arm and Trager?" AJ Weston asked as he glared at the Nord standing across from him.

Hoover gave him a quick recounting of the history between Darby and the Parker girls, including the botched stairwell attack and how Jenks was still all fucked up from it.

Weston stared at Hoover with distain. _What a fuck up…went two on one with a bitch and still managed to screw up? How hard was it to snap a bitch's neck?_ He had seen the two women standing next to each other, one of which had been wrapped up with a half breed Son for a moment. "So which one is Jaci? The one with a Spic fetish or the one that has the pole surgically implanted up her ass?"

"Jaci's the uptight one; the Beaner-lover is Vix. Their older sister, Wendy, is Jax Teller's soon to be ex- old lady. She's living in sober living rehab place." Hoover replied. "Jaci's the brains, Vix is the muscle and the mouth, Wendy's…probably just a liability. All three are scrappy little bitches though."

Weston and Zoebel exchanged a look. Very interesting information…they would add it to the pile for possible future use.

Hoover raised his eyebrows. "Why?" He smiled a greasy smile. "You guys looking to pull something with the Parkers?"

Zoebel replied cryptically, thinking of the plan they had in mind for Gemma Teller Morrow that night. "I don't think that will be necessary…but we'll see."

**To be continued…**


	3. Chapter 3

**Walk Away from the Son**

**Parker Sister Saga continues – Season 2 of SoA**

**Chapter 3- Thorns**

**By BG and Reaper**

Tig kept glancing at Opie as they assembled the weapons. The pair hadn't said much since arriving at the house. Tig had been floored when Clay had told him to take Opie with him today. He felt uncomfortable around Op to say the least but not because of anything Op had said or done, mainly just because Tig's guilt about Donna was burning a hole threw him. But he figured it was time to face his fears and see if he could pull off being casual with Op. As far as the widower was concerned, Donna's death was in the past and Tig knew needed to play along, it was necessary to keep Op believing the lies if the club and Tig himself were going to have any chance of surviving.

"I lost an old lady once." Tig said after a bit. Op frowned slightly at him and Tig proceeded to tell of him an old girlfriend of his that had been killed in a bike wreck back before Tig had joined SAMCRO. "I really loved that one, man. Found out she was pregnant afterwards…that was tough."

Op stood stunned at Tig's revelation, it was one thing for Tig to mention an ex, quite another thing for him to mentioning LOVING her. It was a bit of an emotional moment, Tig looked all nostalgic and Op knew his brother was trying to find some common ground with him. It seemed like people were afraid to talk to him since he had gotten back from his little road trip after Donna's death so appreciated the gesture from Tig. They had never been close but there was no time like the present to maybe find a better bond. Op blinked and asked, "Was that your girls' mom?"

Tig grimaced and snorted. "I wish it was that gash." He thought about his ex for a moment and had the overwhelming urge to shoot something. That bitch could fall off the face of the Earth and the planet would be better off as far as he was concerned.

A few moments of silence past between the men and Op cleared his throat. He willed himself to try to be normal, to just make conversation and interact. He had become so withdrawn since the funeral. "So, uh…I heard you and Jaci broke up." Tig nodded but kept working. "That's too bad…I sorta liked the idea of you two together."

Tig shook his head and laughed a bit sadly as he snapped a gun stock into place. "Few and the proud there, bro."

"J's a good woman. Her and Vix have helped out so much with the kids and stuff. I thought that someone like her would be good for you, you know? Did she break things off or…?" Op asked, he hadn't heard any details and most of the guys seemed a bit shy to talk to him about day to day things.

"I broke it off." Tig shrugged. He had given dirty looks and damn near growled at anyone who had asked about the breakup up until now; it was just one of many thing he didn't want to talk about or even think about but he felt oddly fine with talking to Op about it. "It just…we were ok but you know she's gonna want stuff…down the road. Thought I just stop wasting her time, you know? She hadn't made any demands or anything…I just thought I would make it easy." Tig took a deep breath and felt good that he had been MOSTLY truthful with Op, just leaving out the part about Donna's death and how Tig didn't think Jaci should be with a monster.

"Oh." Op watched Tig's face for a moment and recognized that flash of emotion that had surfaced a few moments ago when he had mentioned his lost love. "Shouldn't you have maybe let her decide? Maybe she was fine with things…with you?"

"Jaci's loyal to a fault, Op. She'd go down gladly with a sinking ship." Tig winced. "It's better this way."

Op nodded his understanding…but he wasn't agreeing with Tig. His understanding had to do with the fact that he had never seen SAMCRO's SAA like this…hurt. Tig had loved Jaci, Op didn't doubt that one bit.

Tig registered the look of pity in Op's eyes and wanted to turn the gun he was assembling on himself. _Damnit, I'm rambling on about an ex girlfriend to HIM of all people. Jesus Christ, I'm an asshole. _Tig stopped working and changed the subject. "So how are you doing…with everything? How are the kids and stuff?"

He listened as Op told of him having nightmares about being alive and feeling all alone. Tig reassured him that he was NOT alone, that all the guys were there for him. And Tig would be there for him too. It was probably _nine kinds of wrong,_ as Jaci would put it, for Tig to be bonding with Op but if he could help pull Op through this horror, he'd do it. Afterall, he had been the one to cause the pain in the first place.

One thing was for sure, the day was shaping up to be an odd one for Tig. He had started the morning out by milling around St. Thomas, checking in on Gemma, who had wrecked her car coming home from Bobby's party and now he was making pretty intimate conversation with Opie of all people. He didn't know it, but later that night he would watch as a gun deal would go bad, Bobby would get winged with a bullet and Opie would damn near turn into the Terminator.

**XXX**

"Did you fix your class schedule?" Juice asked as he returned to TM from a lunch run.

Vix groaned, "No. Since there are like a hundred people who want in that class and only room for three more, they're doing interviews or some shit so I am still here waiting to meet with the friggin' people. I don't know why I'm bothering to go 'cause you know they'll give the slots to some scholarly types. I hate interviews, I suck at them."

"You'll do fine. Look about last night…"

"Baby, I don't want to figh …" She interrupted him only to be interrupted right back.

"Hang on." She listened as Juice hollered to someone, "WHAT? Well I told 'em no cheese… alright fine." She heard his exasperated huff before he resumed talking to her, "What were we…? Oh, never mind. Look I gotta go back and get Chibs' sandwich corrected, we'll talk later."

"Mmm hmm." Vix mumbled into the phone. "Love you."

"Yeah, me too." Juice mumbled back before hanging up.

Vix tossed her cell into her bag with a bit of force as her stomach growled, she was starving. Digging through her bag she realized she had no cash on her. _Mothershitfuck._ She spotted a bank kiosk at the student lounge across the street… she did have her ATM card.

_Transaction Denied. Please try again later._Flashed on the screen in front of her. "_Mothershitfuck!" _She cursed. She hated dealing with money; most of the time she didn't know how much she had in her account or at all for that matter. She could never seem to keep track of the balance. If her sister knew she'd have a friggin' heart attack with a chaser of brain aneurism.

She exhaled deeply then thought maybe it was the card… it's always a crapshoot whether it will work on any given day – with that silly magnetic strip being all scratched to hell. She shoved the card back in and waited. _Great now there's someone behind me_… she can hear them tapping their toe… she hated that… it made her want to do everything in slow motion.

_Please see your financial institution._ Flashed on the screen. Vix reached down to retrieve her card, but it wasn't there. "Wait, where's my card?" She said to the machine. She punched the eject button but nothing happened. "Give me my fuckin' card!" She hollered at it, slamming her fist down hard on the top of the machine.

"Forget about it." said a voice from behind her. "Once they confiscate it, you gotta go to your own bank to get it back."

_Why don't you mind your fuckin' business_? Vix thought as she spun around and came face to face with a tall brunette wearing blue jeans and a black tank top with the word _'SINNER'_ written in white script letters across her ample bust. "I've never heard of that. They've never taken my card before."

"Consider yourself lucky… it happens to me at least twice a year." The brunettereplied.

"Well it must suck to be you." Vix replied in a huff, grabbing her bag and walking away.

"In general, pretty much." She replied to Vix's retreating back. "HEY! Do you need some cash?" She hollered.

Vix stopped in her tracks and turned around, "What?"

"Money… do you need some? For lunch or something… I could hear your stomach growling from a foot away."

Vix eyed the woman suspiciously. _Who just offers up cash to strangers?_ "Nah, I have some in my car." She lied. "Thanks though."

The chick nodded and turned towards the machine to withdraw funds as Vix turned and walked away. She headed for her car to see if there is some change in the glove box or the trunk or maybe under one of the damn seats. When she got there, a parking ticket laid slapped against the windshield. _What the fuck else can happen today?_ On the floor of the trunk she found 75 cents. She walked away, leaving the ticket on her windshield, at least she didn't have to plop her meager funds into the meter.

_**XXX**_

The next day:

"What are you girls up to?" Jaci asked as she entered the garage at Parker Place to find both Vix rearranging the impromptu salon and Ellie seated in the relocated salon chair reading a book.

"I am studying about butterflies." Ellie replied.

"You're home early. I'm just cleaning up from a day at our home Salon and Parking Garage. Oh, watch it... there is a puddle over there, the Prospect was here hooking up the shampoo sink and we sprung a leak."

Jaci eyeballed the corner of the garage. "I have a few hours to burn, thought I'd kick back and relax before our big weekend of refinishing the back stairs at the salon. How bad is the leak?"

Vix shrugged. "Slow leak. We put a clamp on it and Kipp ran to the hardware store in Lodi for a new hose – Carter's here didn't have the right size."

"Wonderful." Jaci replied sarcastically. "So, what kinda butterflies are you studying exactly?"

"Monarchs."

"They're the pretty black n orange ones, right?" Vix asked.

Ellie nodded, showing a picture in her book as back up proof. "According to my teacher, watching the monarchs is solace for the pain of living."

"I beg your pardon? _Solace for the pain of living?_" Jaci asked, staring at the young girl.

Vix placed some combs into the glass container of Barbercide and glanced at her sister who took a seat in the dryer chair, "Apparently El's teacher is some hippie-chick."

"She really is, she wears the weirdest clothes too." Ellie added.

Vix laughed and makes a hand motion to indicate she thinks the teacher smoked a bit of the wacky-tobaccy too.

"But they really are a miracle." Ellie announced. "According to my book, they follow the sun when they fly and they can fly up to 50 miles in one day and up to 100 feet in the air, and no matter where they are – they always end up in Mexico at the exact time every year, November 2. That is Mexico's Day of the Dead and they believe that the monarchs are the souls of the dead returning home."

Vix made a _yikes_ face and said, "Christ, I hope not."

"I hope it IS true 'cause then maybe that means my Mom will come back." Ellie said.

The Parkers exchanged a glance. Jaci cleared her throat and tried to think of something chipper and upbeat to say to ward off the wave of sadness she can sense coming on. "So, um… Ellie, are you caught up in this whole Twilight craze?"

Ellie immediately grinned, "Team Edward! Vix and I are at odds over this. She is Team Jacob!"

Vix rolled her eyes, "Puh-leese, I am a vampire purist… no way am I gonna get all hot and bothered over some sparkly day-walker."

Jaci looks at her sister, "Really? So you've read the books."

Ellie giggled, "She used Juice's Amazon account and downloaded the audio version to her iPod. She is listening to them in secret."

"Shhhh! Juice totally thinks that was a mistake on his account and called 'em up and bitched that why in the hell HE would download tween-vampire books, so they reversed the charges."

Jaci shook her head, "So you're not READING them, you're sneaking around to LISTEN to them, and involving your boyfriend in the RECEIPT of STOLEN GOODS. Great Role Model, Vix."

"Wow…you make that sound way worse than I figured it was. I bet you could find a way to make Mother Theresa look bad." Vix replied with a smirk.

Jaci shrugs, "There is good and bad in everyone, just varying degrees."

"So do you have a side?" Ellie asked Jaci.

"Hmm?" Jaci responded.

"Are you Team Edward or Team Jacob?" Ellie explained.

"I'm neither." Jaci said, thinking to herself, _but I wouldn't kick either one of them out of bed for eatin' crackers. _

"But if you HAD to chose." Ellie pushed for a definitive answer.

"If I was FORCED to choose… um, I'd probably go with Jacob."

"YES!" Vix cheered with a huge grin.

"BUT, only because I am always cold and that dude runs like a 105 degree temp all the damn time. He's like a smokin' hot electric blanket with no cord or sparkles...just wonderfully chiseled abs." Jaci pointed out.

"You two are sooo barking up the wrong tree." Ellie said. "Edward is way more sophisticated than dumb Jacob. He drives a Volvo … that just screams maturity… and that you're guaranteed to live through a car wreck, well if you weren't already dead and immortal."

Jaci just stared at the young girl. Vix laughed, "See what I mean? She's like a friggin' mad genius or something. Oh, and speaking of surviving car wrecks, you heard any news on Gemma? I was over at TM when they towed in the remains of her Caddy, holy fuck man!"

Before she could say a word on the subject, Jaci's cell rang. After a few _mm hmm_'sand _you got it_'s she hung up. "Ok, that was Tara. She needs me to watch Abel until she gets home from work. As for Gemma, no I haven't heard anything. I was gonna stop over at her house tonight to check on her but now I'm sitting Abel so…"

"Like you can't take him with ya. Gemma loves that boy." Vix snorted.

"I know, hence my hesitation. Gemma is supposed to REST… and you know she'd be all hands-on if I bring Abel over there, so…"

Vix nodded. "So I guess I'm swinging by there on my way from droppin' Ellie back home? You're welcome, by the way."

"Thank you." Jaci replied with a smirk. "So any word on how your class interview went?"

"Yep." Vix grinned. "I got it. Do you fuckin' believe that shit? However I now have to shell out another hundred for another book. I just paid for the new salon stations and some supplies… man, I am so broke man, I can't even pay attention."

"You can't pay attention on a normal day. What's being broke have to do with anything?" Jaci teased. "No worries, I got paid today. How much is your book exactly?"

"Thanks but no thanks, Henry Darling contributed to the cause. I'm really beginning to feel like a town-wide project. But Henry said he put three kids he can't stand through college and grad school and contributed to the education of five grand kids he never sees, so why not add me to the list. I think I am finally growing on ole Henry."

"Like a fungus." Ellie said with a giggle.

Vix stuck her tongue out at the girl. "Pack up your stuff – you can go with me to get my book before I drop you off at home."

_**XXX**_

"This place is crazy." Ellie said in wonderment as she stared around the campus.

It was late on a Friday afternoon, classes didn't start until next week but the place was still buzzing with activity. The two were just getting back to her car when Vix spotted one of the meter maids pulling up next to an older VW Cabriolet that is parked next to Vix's Charger. _Probably that same bitch who wrote me that damn ticket the yesterday. Well fuck you chica, you ain't getting your quota here!_ Vix reached in her pocket and hastily inserts two quarters in the expired meter of the VW. _Gotcha!_ Vix thought with a smirk and blew a kiss at the meter maid, who glared back before turning around and getting back in her little golf-cart thing and sputtering off.

"Excuse Me. Excuse Me!" A female voice called from behind Vix. She turned around and spotted the same brunette from the ATM machine walking hastily in their direction. "Did you just feed my meter?"

"Yeah. Fuckin' Park-zilla Man, got me yesterday. It's like they circle around every five minutes like vultures or something." Vix replied.

She watched as a hint of recognition registered on the chick's face. "You're the girl from the ATM. Well thank you. The last thing I can afford is another fuckin' $45 buck ticket. I swear to Christ, last year I personally outfitted the god damned boys lacrosse team with my violations."

Vix laughed, two run-ins with the chick in just as many days. Vix was a big believer in signs and judging by this most recent exchange, she felt she could perhaps be friends with this girl. For starters, she managed to fit three cusses into the space of thirty seconds. "Yeah, I'm Vix Parker. This is Ellie, a friend of mine's daughter."

"Rachel Stanton. Nice to meet you both. So can I buy you a cup of coffee or a Coke or something? Seeing as you saved me from, what did you call her Park-zilla… that is fucking fantastic. Oh wait…" She eyed Ellie, "Shit, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I've heard way worse, the cuss jar in my house could double as a vacation fund." Ellie said with a smile.

Rachel laughed, "She's precious."

"That she is." Vix nodded. "I guess we've got time for a quick drink."

_**XXX**_

"I was wondering when one of you two were gonna show up." Gemma stepped back inside and slowly turned and made her way back into the living room. She eased herself ever so gently into her recliner. "Figured it be your sister."

Vix nodded, still fighting hard to overcome the shock of seeing the SAMCRO Queen all bruised and busted up. In Vix's eyes, Gemma was sorta untouchable_…10 feet tall and bullet proof. _The sight had her unsettled at best. "Yeah, um… I was in the neighborhood and …"

"Sweetie, this town is so small – every where you go is _in the neighborhood. _But I appreciate you stoppin' by none the less. So where's the pie or cake or casserole dinner you Southerners are always brining when you pay a call?"

Vix laughed, "You may have survived your car wreck but you might not be so lucky with my baking, and my cooking is even worse. So how you feelin' anyway?"

"I look like shit, right?" Gemma asked bluntly. "That's a pretty good estimation of how I feel."

Vix nodded and before she knew it, she began a nervous ramble. "I know, right?. I was pretty busted up and lucky to still be breathin' after my car accident a few years back .It sucks and some people walk away with the whole _Live Like You're Dyin'_ mentality but I think that is stupid because ain't that everyone - like since the moment they are born? So to just start really living after a near death thing is pretty silly if you ask me. Oh and when people hear you were in a wreck they automatically think - _wow we got something in common_ and _I'll show you mine if you'll let me see yours_ type deal. Stupid! Cause each one is different and each one is the same… and just tell 'em to _shut the fuck up._"

Gemma semi-smiled. "Vix?"

"Mmm hmm?"

"Shut the fuck up, baby."

Vix grinned and realized she had been rambling, "Ok I will. I'm sorry Gemma, I ramble when I am nervous."

"Do I make you nervous?" Gemma asked.

"YOU are one of a handful of things that have the capacity to scare the crap outta me, you know in brutal honesty. So while I am here, can I get you anything? Fluff your pillows?"

"I think I'm good. Well, you could close the front blind… the damn sun is making me sick to my stomach."

Vix nodded, "Oooh, photosensitivity…. I had that, too… side effect of a concussion. Did they say you had one? I bet you do. Your head slammed into the steering wheel, huh?"

Gemma sat there staring at Vix, who suddenly realizes she was doing the whole comparison thing again, "Well shit! If you're alright, I'm just gonna go... let you get your rest." She turned towards the door.

"Vix?"

Vix turned around and looked at her, "Hmm?"

"Don't forget the blinds." Gemma reminded.

"Oh my god I am so scatter brained! No wonder Juice cant stand me!"

An incredulous look registered on Gemma's face, "Since when can't Juice stand you? Last I knew that boy barley wanted take a piss unless you were there holding his dick."

"OUCH!" Vix said with a shocked look on her face. "Were we really that bad?"

Gemma nodded, "Worse."

"Oh , well…sorry about that but honestly I think that is part of the problem – maybe being too attached, I don't know." Vix replied and walked back in and sat on the couch opposite Gemma. "He was like uber supportive when I first dropped the whole salon buy idea on him. But then I noticed as things got going and stuff he's been acting weirder and weirder over the last few weeks. He says he's just worried that I'm taking on too much… but then the other night he went completely ape shit, cause I have all these reading assignment I need to get done before the first day of classes on Monday, and well I was distracted and tired and not in the mood to be um, _playful_ and he got pissed… and when I tried to explain that our entire relationship does not need to revolve around sex… he wigged the fuck out."

Vix rolled her eyes. "And well you know me and my tendency not to think before I talk, I hollered back some shit I likely shouldn't have, basically stuff like: _thought I was more than a pussy and tits with legs_, blah, blah,.blah. It wasn't pretty.

She ventured a glance at Gemma who held a look that bordered on amusement. "You do think I am more to him than that, right?" Vix stood and began pacing around the living room, "Christ, I let myself become little more than a play thing right?" She stopped pacing and stood looking worried. "Shit Gemma, what am I gonna do?"

Gemma shook her head in an attempt to ward off the feeling of déjà vu at hearing that last phrase. She reminded herself, _this is Vix Parker not Cherry err, Rita...in my living room not the mini-market… this girl isn't asking advise on what to do about being wanted by the feds… this one needs advice on handling a guy who is apparently feeling threatened by change_. She groaned a bit. When she'd first answered the door she'd played up the headache due to her supposed car accident, but now the head ache was real.

"Vix, baby, when you figure out what makes men tick, you come see me. We'll make a billion dollars selling that little secret. But while you're workin' on that… here is how I see it. You made Juice the center of your universe… maybe not by conscious choice, perhaps you didn't have all that much going on at the time to detract your attention but Juice got real used to all that attention. Now he's having to share the lime light with the salon demo and rebuild, homework and then you'll have classes starting up."

Gemma winced slightly as she adjusted the way she was seating in the recliner. "You've been helpin' out with Op's kids and Moby and Abel. Tara says your gonna be doing hair in your sister's garage until the salon is open then when it does you'll be there a lot of the time. That's a very ambitious schedule by anyone's standards… and a big adjustment for Juice to get used to. And from what I've gathered he doesn't take change very well. You're gonna have to find some patience. I'm sure he'll work through it 'cause that boy worships the quick sand you and your pussy and tits walk on."

Vix smiled a bit and nodded. "Thanks Gemma. It's not like I could go to Jaci for advice right now… she just got her heart stomped. Can you imagine the irony of me asking advise on love and sex at a time like this?"

Gemma rolled her eyes, thinking of what had REALLY happened to her, a rape not a car accident., "Yes the irony of that timing."

Vix nodded "Ok you rest, Jaci's watchin' Abel tonight over at Jax's until Tara gets off her shift so you don't worry yourself over nothin' ok?"

"Clearly you're not a mother." Gemma scoffed. "You never stop worrying even when everything goes right - and everything never all goes right."

"Ok, well I'm outty. Later chica." Vix waved and turned to leave.

"Vix!" Gemma called after her.

"Oh shit, the blinds!" She laughed and ran to shut them before heading out the door.

_**XXX**_

Over the weekend the Parkers had done all they could demo wise at the salon. Rachel had been introduced to Jaci when she appeared at the salon mid-morning on Saturday. Given that the chick had held every conceivable odd job, when Vix had mentioned her current project, she felt she could lend a hand.

The girls had given Bobby ample time to recoup from jail, his welcome home party and getting shot during, ironically enough, a gun sale. The honor of his presence was demanded at Parker Place. Jaci made him dinner and Vix restored his tresses in her impromptu garage salon. Both girls gave him a detailed debriefing of what he had missed out on in their world over the last two months.

Bobby was impressed by Vix's plans for the future, although he did question how the alien probing felt. When Vix asked him what the hell he was talking about he shrugged and replied, "The change in you… it borders on body snatching level."

When he inquired how things were going with Juicey, neither Bobby nor Jaci failed to notice her worried look. It belied her cheery, optimistic assurance of _its all good._ Her phone rang a split second later and she laughed, "Speaking of…" and leaving Bobby and Jaci in the kitchen, she answered her phone as she walked away.

Jaci knew the moment she'd been dreaded had arrived when Bobby turned his gaze on her. "So, same question … different Son."

The ensuing discussion of the Tig and Jaci breakup was very short with her just saying that they were done and no Tig hadn't been an asshole about it. And truthfully, Tig really hadn't been, sure he hadn't talked to Jaci in months but it wasn't like they had been friends before they had started messing around; they had been strangers. It seemed they had just reverted to that status again. Hoping or expecting that Tig was going to walk up and chit chat about the weather with her had been delusion on Jaci's part and she knew it. Hell, she had no clue what she would even say to him if he did try to talk to her.

"And how are you with all that?" Bobby inquired.

"I'm fine. Really… I'm fine." Jaci offered assurance she didn't feel.

"You're a shitty liar, J." Bobby replied. "But you're one hell of a cook… you got any more of that coffee cake?"

_**XXX**_

On Monday, after her official start as a college student, Vix rolled into the parking lot at Teller Morrow. She got out of her car and strolled up to the garage bays. She extended her arms wide and announced, "I am here for your tools!"

"HA! We got two of 'em…and they're ALL YOURS." Bobby yelled and pointed to Juice and Half Sack.

Vix laughed and looked at Clay. "Hey Clay... you got an axe?"

Clay smirked, "Why? You gonna go Lizzy Borden on us?"

"Not much point in that." Vix replied with an eye roll. "My parents are already dead and gone, Clay. But hey, maybe a chain saw would be better."

"I am not giving you a chain saw." He replied flatly. "Some days I am not sure you should be given anything sharper than a nail file." Clay nodded towards the wrecker. "There's an axe in the truck. Make sure you return it when you're done."

Vix nodded and saluted him. "Aye, aye, _Cap-ee-tan_." She retrieved the axe and then started to walk around the garage, at Juice's prompting, to get whatever else she thought they would need to demo the salon. She was familiar with your common everyday construction tools and your garden variety auto tools from her days spent at construction sites and rebuilding her beloved Charger. However, the wide variety of shiny equipment available at TM lead to a steady stream of '_ooh's_' and '_ahh's'_ escaping from her. She picked up a big metal contraption. "Hmmm, I'll take this."

Tig glared at her. "That's a TUBE BENDER, dipshit. You don't need that, put it down."

"Bend your tube till it breaks, fuckhead." Vix muttered but nonetheless complied.

She took a few more steps and picked up a several items while cradling the axe in her arm. Then her eyes widened. "Ooooh! Come to Mama…" She grabbed the blow torch sitting on the table.

Bobby freaked. "No no no! Absolutely NOT!"

Clay laughed and asked sarcastically, "Oh come on Bobby...what's the worst that could happen?" Still he turned and jabbed a finger at Vix, barking at her. "Put it down."

Bobby grabbed the blow torch from her with his 'good' arm and gave Vix a _hand it over_ gesture with the other. "I KNOW your sister wouldn't send you over here without a list. So hand it over." Meanwhile, he glared at Juice, "You're a horrible chaperon by the way." Juice just shrugged.

Vix frowned but handed the note over. She had shoved it into her pocket without even bothering to read it. "Christ, I feel like a little kid...should have just stapled it to my damn shirt."

Bobby pulled his glasses down from atop his head and read the list aloud which was obviously written with the suspicion that Vix wouldn't actually READ IT but someone else would. He cleared his throat and began, …

_''Dear Bobby... or whomever is fed up with Vix just grabbing shit at random around the garage. We need a s__ledgehammer, crowbar, drill, & circular saw__. We do NOT need anything FIRE related. Don't let her lie to you...she can be sneaky...like a goddamn gremlin.."_

The guys in the garage cracked up and even Tig had to fight back a smile. He could almost _hear _Jaci's voice. He shook his head. _Who the fuck says WHOMEVER? Come on..._

Vix had an arm full of worthless but cool stuff by then and looked at Bobby, knowing she was busted. Bobby looked over his glasses at her, "Drop it."

"Alright...but I'm keeping the AXE!"

The Prospect and Juice loaded up the _necessary _items from Jaci's list. Vix just smiled and nodded as Juice once again reminded her about the extreme importance of not impeding the integrity of load bearing walls. "I just don't want the building falling down with you or your sister inside it."

Tig had been relatively quiet during Vix's visit but as he and the rest of the guys watched her pull out of the parking lot, he shook his head. "Twenty bucks says one of them _at least _loses a finger."

_**XXX**_

A few days later…

"So what's your opinion of the Wendy Situation?" Jaci asked as she bounced Abel on her knee while sitting in the recliner. "I talked to her yesterday. She sounded good but maybe a little self absorbed; she didn't ask anything about what was going on in our little world here in Charming, didn't ask about Abel."

"That's par for the course, Jaci." Tara interjected and then looked up at Jax to finish her thought.

He shrugged. "She calls me probably once a week to check up on Abel. I say he's fine, maybe tell her a few cute things he did that week and then she says 'thanks' and hangs up."

Jaci frowned and smoothed her hand over Abel's head. She sighed. "Well….maybe she is just detaching until she can get some sobriety time under her belt. Hopefully she'll be more gung ho when she gets back in town."

"Speaking of detaching…its good to see you back in town." Jax smiled. "You didn't have to bale on town after the breakup you know."

"No…I kinda did." Jaci replied. "It was a chickenshit way out, I know, but I just didn't want to deal with the sympathetic looks or run the risk of bumping into him or hear the I told you so's." Jax started to grin and Jaci pointed a finger at him. "I _still_ don't want to hear it." She waved her finger between him and Tara. "I don't lecture you two about your crazy shit….well, not anymore."

Jax threw his hands up. "A'ight. I won't say it…but you know I'm glad you're away from him. Dude's a psycho. You can do better." The knowledge that Tig had killed Donna weighed on Jax's shoulders heavier everyday. He wanted to scream it from the rooftops but knew that declaration would destroy too many lives so he kept quiet…for now.

"See ya later, little man." Jaci stood up and carried Abel over to Jax, kissing the baby on the forehead before she handed him over to his daddy.

As Jax cradled Abel in his arms, Jaci looked over to Tara. They had definitely made some peace in the couple weeks Jaci had been back in town. Every visit to see Abel had given the girls time to talk and mend fences. "Hey, I'm heading over to meet Vix at this bar by her school. Gonna shoot pool for a while, have a few beers…little bit of stress relief. Do you want go?"

Tara blinked in surprise. She glanced over at Jax and then back to Jaci, not sure what to say. "Um…I…" Jaci assured her that Vix would behave herself, everyone would play nice. Jax encouraged the impromptu girl's night, reminding Tara that she didn't have to work the next day and besides, he could spend some one on one time with Abel while she was gone.

"Ok then…I'm in." If the Parkers wanted to extend an olive branch, who was she to knock it away?

**XXX**

Jaci and Tara walked into Big Daddy's Bar and Grill and stood just inside the door, taking in the place for a moment. "So this is Vix's little adult study hall. Not bad, I like it." Jaci commented, Tara stayed quiet. Jaci scanned the place quickly and waved to Vix who was sitting at the bar.

"Ok guys…this here is my big sister, Jaci…J for short." Vix announced to Corbin and Larry. "She's single by the way…if ya'll know any nice guys to set her up with." Jaci cut her eyes playfully at Vix.

Corbin smiled and extended his hand to Jaci. "Nice to meet you, miss. I'm Corbin, just call me Big Daddy. We've heard good things about you from Vix here. And I'd set you up with my nephew but he's complete idiot, so I'll save you the trouble of that."

"Appreciate that." Jaci replied and shook his hand.

"Hello? Vix, I'm single. Why haven't you set me up with your sister yet?" Larry complained from his seat. He pointed directly at Jaci. "You are beautiful. I totally expected some chick that had ripped out all of her hair from putting up with Vix for so long. How do you stay sane?"

Jaci grinned and shrugged. "I drink a lot."

"Me too." Larry replied with wink. He looked to Corbin. "I think I've found my soul mate."

Vix pushed Larry's shoulder. "You are NOT single…you're married to Gloria and Tawny there." She pointed to his gin and tonic.

Larry shrugged and held up his glass. "Yes but they are _very _open minded when it comes to polygamy."

"Yeah yeah." Vix replied. "Ok, this here is Tara…she's our 'quasi sister in law'." Tara winced at the odd description. Vix caught the gesture. "Well what else should I call you?"

"Actually, I guess that fits pretty well." Tara replied and nodded to the men. "Nice to meet you."

Vix clapped her hands together. "Ok, you guys secure the pool table, I'll secure the booze."

"Check." Jaci answered and waved to the guys as she and Tara headed straight to the back of the bar. She unloaded her pockets and lined up stacks of quarters along the pool table rail.

Vix returned with three bottles of beer and the mini pool tourney began. Both of the Parkers were in need of a good night out. Vix was stressed to the max with classes and remodeling the salon which in turn had put stress on her relationship with Juice. Jaci was dealing with her own shit with work, her new found second job of salon demo and her breakup with Tig. Tonight the girls were planning to blow off some steam and break some balls…even if they were only on a pool table.

**XXX**

Tig, Chibs and Bobby trailed into the bar. They were all a little sick of Charming and a change of scenery was welcome. And after being cooped up in jail for a few months, Bobby took every opportunity he could find to go for a long ride. Granted his shoulder was still sore as a motherfucker from where he had been shot the other night, but he'd be damned if he was going to let that prevent a ride. The guys put in orders for beers and Bobby turned to survey the bar patrons. A second later he began to laugh and said in a dramatic voice, "Of all the bars in the world, she had to walk into mine."

Chibs looked over his shoulder. "The fuck are you talkin' 'bout?"

"Look who's here." Bobby replied and nodded toward the pool table at the back of the bar.

"Fuck me." Tig muttered as he spotted the Parker sisters and Tara. He glared at Bobby. "What are you trying to pull?"

"Nothing!" Bobby feigned innocence. He didn't mention that he had called Jaci earlier in the day and she had said something about being at Big Daddy's that night.

"Goddamnit, Bobby." Tig grumbled.

"You wanna leave?" Bobby asked in a fake sympathetic tone. Tig shook his head no and turned back to the bar. Bobby just shrugged as he looked at Chibs. "Alright then, we're gonna go say hi."

"Go right ahead." Tig replied and stood rooted to the bar.

**XXX**

The girls were deeply absorbed in their pool game and talking shit to each other so they didn't see the guys approach.

"We ride all the way out here to get away from Charming and here you girls are waiting on us. What are the damn odds?" Bobby bellowed with a smile on his face.

The girls looked up and surprise shot across their faces. They moved to hug the guys.

"Your fellas know you're here?" Chibs asked good naturedly.

"Yes, they do." Vix motioned to the pool table. "And this is stress relief. Wanna play? Who's all with ya'll?"

Bobby stood with his arm around Jaci as he answered. "Tig's sitting at the bar."

"He too good to come and say hi?" Vix asked just for the hell of it.

"Tigger's in a bit of a mood tonight." Chibs replied. "As he is every night really."

Jaci resisted the urge to whip her head around and look for her ex. Instead she kept a smile plastered on her face and whispered to Bobby, "You knew we were coming here…so no happy coincidences. What are you trying to pull by bringing him? Don't try playing matchmaker, Bobby. It's done."

"I'm not trying to _pull_ anything. He wanted to come." Bobby lied with a similar fake smile as Chibs talked to Vix and Tara. "And maybe I didn't exactly _tell_ him you'd be here but what's the big deal? You guys should stop avoiding each other and talk."

"We're just going to keep the jukebox cranked up, shoot some pool for a little bit and then we're hitting the road. You guys come play anytime you want." Jaci offered.

The guys headed back toward the bar. "Holler if anybody gives ya any trouble." Chibs added.

**XXX**

As the guys walked away, the girls picked up their game again. If they kept the goofing off to a minimum, Jaci and Vix were actually very good players, Tara was an average player but then again she hadn't grown up in a MC clubhouse with daily access to a pool table.

Jaci headed to the jukebox again and sunk a few quarters. As she scanned the music library, she bobbed her head to music that was currently playing. She absently thought to herself that tonight wasn't so bad, even if Tig was across the room. She had willed herself to only glancing at him a few times and was pleased to find that each time she had caught him staring at her with only a semi rude look. _Well eat your heart out, asshole. Hope you like what you see and it stings a little bit._ She resolved to kill him with kindness, as Roxy loved to say. She would laugh and smile and one day that bastard would rue the day he dropped her.

"Why don't you just go talk to her?" Bobby finally asked. He had been watching Tig sneak glances at Jaci for the last hour.

Tig frowned and replied rudely. "Why the fuck would I do that?"

"Well you keep staring at her." Chibs explained.

"I keep checking to see if she's gone the fuck home yet." Tig snapped back with a lie.

"Whatever. She keeps coming over the jukebox…I think she wants you to walk over and talk." Bobby coached.

"Well, she can want in one hand and shit in the other, Bobby. I got nothing to say to her." Tig replied.

Bobby just glared at him. "What is your fucking problem? I mean really! What did she ever do to you that was so goddamn bad?" He threw his hands up in frustration. For some reason Tig was set on being mean and Bobby had had it. "Ok, fine… I give up."

"You should." Tig replied and shoved away from their table to get another shot from the bar. He wanted to get mellow as quickly as possible. At the moment he was pissed off at himself for not being able to keep his eyes off of Jaci. _You know you can't go there…don't even start. It's all or nothing and you picked nothing so get over it asshole._

"Testy!" Chibs yelled after him with a laugh.

**XXX**

Jaci bellied up to the bar after making her song selections and waited for Corbin to get around to taking her order. The bar had filled up to about three quarters capacity so there was a bit of a wait. From over her right shoulder, she smiled as she watched Vix and Tara playing. _Man, we really needed this break tonight. I'll be perfectly happy never to wield another sledgehammer my whole life._ The guy next to her backed away from the bar with an armful of beers. They exchanged smiles and 'excuse me's' as she backed out of his way.

When she started to lean her forearms back on the bar she glanced to her left and found herself staring straight at Tig. He had been standing next to the guy that had walked away. The residual smile she had on her face faded instantly and her eyes widened in surprise like a deer caught in headlights way . Her brain sort of froze for a second but she finally managed to mumble, "Hey."

Tig grimaced at her like she had spoken Swahili and turned his back to her quickly. Jaci snarled her nose in response and her head shot back a little. _Did he honestly just blatantly snub me? Oh hell no!_

She cleared her throat and spoke to the back of his head. It was one thing to not go out of your way to talk to an ex, it was quite another to be standing 6 inches away and ignore them. "Seriously, Tig? It's two syllables 'hel-lo', one if you're into the whole brevity thing and want to just say 'hi.'"

Tig closed his eyes as she spoke to him for the first time in months. His heart was thundering in his chest. He inhaled and could have sworn he could smell her perfume even though that was impossible with all the smoke in the bar. He swallowed hard. _Don't you fucking turn around. Do not do it! You turn around, you'll say 'hey', which will lead to 'how you doing?' and before you know it her claws will be in you all over again. You've been fucking staring at her all goddamn night…AGAIN. That road is a fucking dead end. SHUT THIS SHIT DOWN NOW!_ Corbin slid Tig's shot of whiskey across to him and he knocked it back and slammed the glass back down on the bar and walked away without a word.

Corbin looked to Jaci who was staring after the biker with a hard frown on her face. "You know him?"

"Used to." Jaci replied and turned her attention to the bartender. _So much for sticking to beer for the night_. She suddenly needed something a bit harder. "Can I get three beers and a shot of Johnny Walker Black please?"

"Oooh, hardcore, going for the good stuff." Larry mused from his perch.

Jaci smiled. "Wanna join me?" Larry nodded and she held up two fingers to Corbin. He put the shots in front of them and Jaci and Last Call clinked them together before downing them.

"Looks like you're an all around good shot, Miss Parker." Larry complimented. "Pool, liquor…"

"Should see me with a gun." Jaci said with a wink and walked off leaving him a bit stunned.

**XXX**

Vix and Tara had watched the exchange between Jaci and Tig with rapt attention.

"Did you talk to him?" Tara asked as Jaci returned.

"I said 'hey'…he ignored me and walked off." Jaci reported.

"Dick." Vix interjected.

"Yep. Why did I expect any different?" Jaci shook her head and pointed to the table. "Rack em."

They were half way through another game when Vix abruptly stopped playing and stared across the bar. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. She took a pull from her beer and muttered, "Typical."

Jaci frowned and turned around to follow her sister's gaze. "What?"

Vix snorted. "Typical Tig, typical bar skank, typical guy bullshit to try and make the ex feel even crappier."

Her eyes landed on the guys' table, where a group of women talking to them. Well, perhaps talking is the wrong word. One woman was hanging on Chibs' shoulder, one had squeezed in next to Bobby and was whispering in his ear and Tig had just slapped his leg and let one skank sit on his lap. He locked eyes with Jaci for a second and had a smug look on his face.

"Goddamn it." Jaci muttered and turned back to the game.

"When are those guys going to learn it's about QUALITY and not QUANTITY?" Tara mused.

"He's doing that to piss you off." Vix snapped back. "Stop looking at him. Don't give him the satisfaction of knowing it hurts you."

Jaci nodded and focused on the game at hand but in the back of her mind she tried to figure out what game Tig was trying to play with her. His actions were contradictory; he wouldn't talk to her but yet he stared at her anytime they were in the same room together. Now he was flirting with some skank but smirking at Jaci like he wanted to make her jealous but why would he bother to try to make her jealous when HE was the one that ended things? Too many damn questions! Errrr! Jaci flat out blew an easy shot and Vix rolled her eyes.

A moment later a few guys that Vix knew from school came over to say hi. Vix introduced everyone and took special effort to let the guys know that while she and Tara were taken, Jaci was, in fact, _very very_ single. Vix invited the guys to play a couple games of pool with them and they accepted. The guys offered to buy a round of beers but everyone was good, so they settled for buying Jaci a shot of Jack Daniels, she wasn't one to turn down free liquor.

Jaci and one of the guys squared off in a game, flirting like mad. Under normal circumstances, Jaci would have never been this playful with a college age guy but given the fact that Tig sat across the room right then with a skank on his lap, she was down for putting on a flirt fest, two could play the Jealousy Game.

Chibs watched Jaci and the college guys with amusement; Tig watched with a frown on his face. The Scot laughed, "Ooh, I think she just sucked the lime out of Tara's Corona bottle for her. Now THAT'S a bar trick." He looked to Tig, "YOU are an idiot, my friend."

The woman sitting next to Chibs snorted. "I can do that trick. It's not that hard."

Tig watched as one of the guys took Jaci's cell phone and entered his number into it. Bobby laughed and toasted Tig with his beer bottle, "Ahhhh, she's getting a young buck. Ignore my efforts from earlier, Tigger. They are no longer necessary."

After a few more games of pool, the college boys moved on and then finally left for the night. After they walked away, Tara and Vix both smiled at Jaci. "Very nice!"

Jaci laughed but then frowned. "Shit...does taking his number make me a cougar?"

Tara scoffed, "We aren't old enough to be cougars...at least I don't think."

"That dude is twenty two MAX. He thinks you're a cougar 'cause thirty one is ANCIENT to him." Vix explained with a giggle.

"Ah hell." Jaci sighed. "Well, it's not like I'm gonna call him so it doesn't matter."

"True." Vix agreed. "But he did serve a purpose." She nodded back at Tig. "Fuckhead there looks a little green with jealousy."

"Christ don't tell HIM that, you know how he feels about the color green." Jaci said with a tipsy laugh.

Vix rolled her eyes. "I know, '_Green is a Mayan color'_, blah blah blah. You hear what he did to poor Kipp?"

"No, what?" Tara inquired.

"You know Kipp's whole 'SAVE THE EARTH one SON at a time' - thing he got going? You know the recycling thing? Well apparently Tig will be last in the conversion line cause he refuses to go GREEN or toss his beer bottle in a GREEN recycle bin" Vix shook her head and glared at Tig who was glaring back from across the room. "What a fuck head man. I am surprised he is willing to touch money."

_**XXX**_

And so the Jealousy Game began between Tig and Jaci. He kept getting more and more cozy with the skank and after the college guys left, Jaci was seemingly out of ammo but then she smiled as she looked to the jukebox. She made her first round of selections; the lead song was Billy Joel's You May Be Right, which Tig knew was his ringtone on her phone and got his attention. All the songs that followed had very explicit memories for her and Tig.

After those songs played, she was back for more and Bobby met her at the jukebox. He wasn't sure what she was up to but it sure had Tig drinking more. He praised her jukebox warfare skills and donated a few dollars to her cause. She knew playing the songs was a juvenile move but Tig was throwing low blows tonight she was going to hit back anyway she could.

_**XXX**_

"Jesus, Tig…get a room or a bathroom stall or something." Bobby said as he watched with disgust while Tig sucked face with the woman who was now straddling him in his chair. And 'sucking face' was the right terminology to use; kissing implied a level of class and decency that was long since gone in the act. Bobby glanced across the bar to see if Jaci was watching the lewd show and was saddened to see that she was. Her head was slightly cocked and she looked confused, like she couldn't comprehend what she was seeing. "Take it down a notch. _You know who_ is looking straight at you and you know it. You don't have to be so heartless."

"Yeah Bobby, I do." Tig lit a cigarette, took a drag, and blew out a stream of smoke. "If she doesn't like it, she can fucking hit the road."

The skank frowned and cocked her head at Tig. "You want me to leave?"

Tig sneered. "No dumbass…you stay right where you're at."

"Is that girl over there your ex or something?" The skank asked.

"Shut up." Tig said blankly. He stared at Jaci around the woman on his lap. As _yet another_ all too familiar song played in the bar, Tig seriously considered walking over to the jukebox and knocking it over. The goddamn songs were killing him. Every one Jaci played sparked some memory of them either sitting around the fire pit on her back porch or driving in her car or of them making love. As much as he wanted to think that shit with Jaci hadn't mattered to him, he could honestly say that he had only fucked her a few times. For the most part, he had made love to her and that fact wouldn't stop screaming in his head tonight, no matter how many shots he downed.

_**XXX**_

"Have you learned your lesson yet, sis? Stop fucking looking at that douchebag. He obviously is trying to get under your skin. Stop banging you head against the wall of Tig." Vix admonished as she watched her sister knock back her beer.

"He's a lost cause, Jaci." Tara added.

Jaci stood with her back to the rest of the bar as she wiped more chalk on her hands, preparing for the next round of pool. She had officially lost her enthusiasm for the night. Any good time she had been having was long gone now. She had initially just been annoyed with seeing the woman grind all over him like some uncoordinated stripper, that whole scene had just been sad really. _I mean really, who gives a lap dance to a guy that you just met like an hour ago? How trashy is that?_

She hadn't been all that hurt by any of it until Tig gripped the skank's neck and pulled her in for a forceful kiss. How many times had Jaci felt that hand on her face, how many times had he stared at her with those cold blue eyes… although it had all been in a much more affectionate manner? Without a word, Jaci made a beeline for the bar again. She smiled at Corbin. "PLEASE tell me you can make a Long Island Tea."

He smiled back. "Sure can...guaranteed to put you on your ass after two of em."

She nodded, "Great! Give me that and another shot of Johnny Black. No wait…just Jim Beam." She grinned at Corbin. "I've already had Jack and Johnny…figure I'll just go ahead and get the Triple J Whiskey Trifecta."

Larry grinned at her as she raised her eyebrows, willing to buy him another shot. He held his hands up. "I'm good thanks. How many does that make for you?"

"Three…I think." Jaci answered and then shrugged. She was making her move up the alcohol ladder. Drinking had been her favorite crutch over the last couple of months; she figured she might as well stick with it. She downed her shot and took her drink back to the pool tables.

Chibs and Bobby took turns tossing Jaci regretful looks a time or two and she just rolled her eyes in return. Tara frowned as she watched Tig. Jaci had told her their breakup had been respectful, that they just hadn't been right for each other, so the doctor couldn't figure out why Tig was doing his best to _hurt _Jaci with all of his obvious antics. But who the hell knew exactly went on in the mind of Tig Trager. Jax had described him a psycho loser more than once to Tara.

_**XXX**_

After another half hour, the Parkers and Tara were actually about to call it a night when Tig's skank stood up and headed toward the bathrooms. At the last second, she veered toward the pool tables.

"J, get your head out of your ass. Here she comes." Vix hissed.

Her sister's odd warning broke her drunken revelry and Jaci turned around in time to see the skank making her way toward them. _You have got to be kidding me!_ _What the hell? _Jaci stepped closer to Vix and Tara. "You two stay out of what ever happens here, ok? This is my shit. I'll handle it." A rush of adrenaline knocked the drunken cobwebs out of her mind for a moment.

Vix nodded reluctantly but added, "Ok…but if one of her little skank friends decides to come over and join the party, I'm jumping in."

"You enjoying the show?" Tig's make out partner asked as she stopped a few feet from the girls.

"Excuse me?" Jaci asked as she studied the woman. She was definitely a ten footer…better looking from ten feet away. She looked a little older than Jaci but her face showed a life of hard drinking and partying. _Tig, you are scrappin' the bottom of the barrel tonight, bro._

"I didn't fucking stutter. You need to keep you eyes to yourself and stop fucking staring at me."

Vix smirked. "Is that a fact?"

The skank's eyes shot to Vix's. "I'm not fucking talking to you."

Vix stood up straighter and cocked her head. "Well, your ass is about to be talking to my foot if you don't calm down."

"Vix…." Jaci warned and reach out her arm to deter Vix from stepping to the skank. She looked at the woman again. _Ok honey…you wanna play…let's play. _

"What's your problem?" The skank inquired. "What's with the fascination with me?"

"Sorry if I offended you but… I just have this habit of staring at train wrecks…just can't stop myself." Jaci plastered a look of fake niceness on her face and leaned on the pool stick she was holding. "By the way, what's your name so I can stop calling you _skank_ in my mind?"

"Melissa." She snarled at Jaci, obviously not taking kindly to being called a train wreck or a skank. "Is Tig your ex or something?"

"Honey, my past, present or future is none of your business." Jaci replied with a smile. "That doesn't get discussed with the likes of _you._" Tara laughed at that line.

_**XXX**_

Tig was leaned back in his chair smoking when Chibs spontaneously said, "Oh fuck." He looked toward the pool tables. "Your little friend decided to pay the girls a visit. That might end badly."

Tig and Bobby both followed the Scot's gaze and saw Melissa talking heatedly and waving her hand around while Jaci struck a cocky pose, looking slightly amused by the whole confrontation. Vix watched the pair talk with a smirk on her face and her arms crossed. Tara stood the side with her perm-a-frown in place.

"Oooh, I don't like that fake smile plastered on Jaci's face. Looks like she wants to level that bitch with a good hard right hand…or maybe that pool stick." Chibs added. "Your bitch makes a move on her, it's gonna get ugly."

Tig ran his hand over his face. _Stupid fucking bitch...must have gotten tired of Jaci staring. _"Bobby, go break that shit up, would ya?"

Bobby pursed his lips and shook his head. "Nope, you created that little situation…go clean up your own mess."

"Eh, fuck em both. I'm staying right here." Tig replied.

**XXX**

Melissa stepped closer to Jaci; the girls were practically nose to nose. "You need to mind your own business, bitch."

"You need to watch your mouth." Jaci said sweetly in return. "My sister's virgin ears are sensitive."

Melissa took a half step back and then shoved Jaci. Across the bar Bobby stood up but Tig grabbed his forearm, holding him in place. Vix moved to join the shoving match but Tara laid a hand gently on her shoulder, stopping her.

Jaci took the shove and stepped back slightly. Her drunken head swooned a bit and her anger flared. She had been just playing with the dumb girl but now she wanted to hit the her so badly…she could _see _the hits in her mind, could see the skank's face bleeding, could almost feel her hands hurting from the punches. She glanced quickly to the bar and saw Corbin and Larry staring back with rapt attention. She flexed her jaw and gritted her teeth in frustration and finally shook her head. _Stay cool, stay cool. _This shit tonight had gone far enough. _He doesn't even want you, don't go making a fool of yourself over him. _She shook her head once more and nodded at Melissa. "Look…as much I want to beat the holy fuck out of you right here and now…I'm not going to."

"Why the fuck not?" Vix exclaimed.

"I'm not going to tear up this bar and cause trouble for Big Daddy over there. Don't want him having to scrub your blood off the pool table here." Jaci held up a finger in Melissa's face. "HOWEVER…let me remind you that you do not LIVE at this bar. You do have to leave at some point tonight and when you step foot on that parking lot…your little skank ass is mine." Jaci plastered her famous super sweet Southern smile on her face and waited for Melissa's response.

"Fuck you bitch." Melissa replied and slapped Jaci's finger out of her face.

"Goddamnit, Tig. That's enough. I'm stopping it." Bobby declared and started to pull away.

"I got it. I got it. Calm the fuck down." Tig replied and crushed out his cigarette. He grabbed his beer and headed across the bar.

**XXX**

"Oooh…you in trouble now, bitch." Vix said with a laugh as she watched Tig approach. She nodded in his direction to alert Jaci. Just then her phone buzzed in her back pocket. She grabbed it and looked at the caller id…_Juice._ She hesitated to leave her sister alone but lately Juice was so high strung, he would freak out if she didn't answer."J, I gotta take this. You gonna be ok? Even with him coming over?"

Jaci waved her off while keeping her eyes on Melissa. "Yep, go on. I got this."

Vix headed toward the front of the bar so she could step outside to talk or probably more likely _argue_ with Juice. As Tig walked past her, she said, "Hey, fuckhead, looks like your bitch broke her leash and ended up in our yard."

"Fuck you, pain in the ass." Tig grumbled in reply.

Jaci shifted her eyes to glare at Tig as he approached. He returned the favor. She laid the pool stick she had been holding down across the table and swallowed hard. Her blood was starting to boil. Her perfectly good evening had been ruined because of his game playing bullshit. _Surely he had something to SAY now._

"I think its past your girlfriend's bedtime, she's very cranky." Jaci deadpanned.

Tig walked up behind Melissa and grabbed her hand, pulling her backward two steps. He snapped his head back toward the guys and their table. "Go." He said flatly.

Melissa frowned and started to walk back toward Jaci. "I wasn't finished…"

"No, you're done." Still gripping her hand, Tig scowled at the party girl and resisted the urge to slap her for starting shit with Jaci. "Get your ass across the bar…now."

Melissa glared at Jaci one last time and turned on her heel in a huff. Jaci and Tig faced off as Tara watched from a few steps away, not really sure what to do. Jaci raised her eyebrows at him, waiting for him to say something. He had not uttered one word since he dumped her and apparently he wasn't going to start tonight because he turned his back to her and watched Melissa walk back to his table.

Jaci was stunned at his ability to make her feel like she didn't exist. _Ruin my night with some fuckin skank and you're just going to fucking walk off? FUCK THAT! _All the alcohol she'd ingested had her feeling brave. She called after him, "Be careful pulling on her hair tonight, Tig. She's got cheap extensions; they might come off in your hand."

He flipped her the bird over his left shoulder and started to walk away. She inhaled sharply and fired back without thinking, "And have fun getting Chlamydia. That is if you can take it that far. You sure you can get it up for her? You got that limp noodle condition under control now?"

Tara let out a gasp. Her mouth fell open in shock at Jaci's insult.

The insult snapped into place in his head and Tig whipped around, covering the distance between them in a blink. "What the fuck did you say to me?" He hissed. He towered over her and was in her face, she was pinned with her lower back to the pool table.

He was almost shaking with sudden fury. Her snide remark had stung him badly. Of all the shit she could have said to him, he had never expected such a low blow to come from her. He was so fucking mad he wanted to shake her, actually he wanted to slap her. But in his head, he chanted _don't touch her, don't touch her_. He gripped the side of the pool table with his left hand instead. In his right hand, he held a beer bottle and gripped the neck of it, his finger pointing in her face over the top of the bottle. The gold rings on his fingers gleamed in the bar light.

"Watch your fucking mouth! You hear me, bitch?" Tig seethed at her. "You need to remember who the FUCK you're talking to!" He slammed his hand atop the pool table to emphasis his words.

Jaci had surprised even herself by spewing the insult but she was not about to back down now. He was NOT going to get away with this bullshit intimidation move. Jaci looked at the monster before her. His hair was wild, and deep lines riddled his face. He looked extremely tired and…_old._ His eyes were the worst for her though. Those beautiful blue eyes of his were crazy with anger; she wasn't entirely sure that he even really saw _her_ in front of him.

She stood up straighter and pushed off from the table, bumping chests with him, almost daring him to get physical with her. "Who AM I talking to? I don't fuckin' know you anymore."

"I'm the same motherfucker that I ever was. Don't make me prove that you." Tig pushed back against her with his body and sneered.

Tara stood frozen in place, not sure what to do. She wanted to break up the situation but knew better than to stick her nose in Tig's business. If she tried to pull him away, she might catch a slap to the face. She threw a nervous glance to Bobby and Chibs who were on their feet and watching the scene. She turned her focus back to Tig. The way he was looking at Jaci made Tara grimace, she wasn't really sure if he wanted to hit her or fuck her, maybe it was all the same to him.

"Uh, you going to do something, Corb?' Larry asked as he turned in his seat to watch the biker getting in Jaci's face.

Corbin was watching the same scene with eagle eyes and nodded. "He lays a finger on her and I'm going to break this here Louisville Slugger over his head." He had his hand on the bat that rested under the bar. He knew that you didn't go sticking your nose into domestic situations but you damn sure didn't just stand aside and let a woman get hit either.

Larry nodded toward Bobby and Chibs. "'What about his friends over there?"

Corbin shook his head slightly, never taking his eyes off Jaci and Tig. "I'll worry about them later."

_**XXX**_

"Don't fucking threaten me." Jaci hissed. That evil smile on his face stung her. She shook her head with concern. "You're a goddamn stranger, Tig. What's happened to you?"

He ignored her question and held his finger in her face again. "Listen very fucking closely…you stay the fuck away from me. If you see me coming down the sidewalk, you cross the fucking street. If you're in a bar, the diner, the goddamn grocery store and I come in, you walk the fuck out. Tread fucking lightly around me, bitch. Understand me?"

Jaci resisted the urge to snort; instead she replied quietly, "No, I don't understand you…at all." This form of arguing was getting them no where and she suddenly wanted to end it. There was too much hostility; it shouldn't be that way with them, there was no reason for it. She glared at him, "Back up off me."

Tig stood his ground but she saw a little flicker of _something_ in his eyes.

"Tig, back up." Jaci softened her stare and pushed against his chest lightly with both her hands. "Stop this…this is stupid."

"Stop what?"

"Hurting me." She answered bluntly.

He frowned, took a step back and looked her up and down. His eyes locked back on her. "I didn't fucking touch you."

"You didn't have to." Jaci replied quietly. "You've proven your point. I get it, so get the hell out of my way. Mission accomplished, Tig. I don't want to look at you anymore."

Tig clenched his jaw as he took a small step backward. He rammed his finger in Jaci's face. "AND…if you put one more quarter in that goddamn jukebox, I'm gonna put your fucking head through it. We clear?"

"Crystal." Jaci replied while glaring at him.

He stepped out of her way and watched her slide past him and head for the door. "Fucking keep walking bitch." He said, although with less conviction that he was expecting.

Tara quickly caught up to Jaci. "Jesus, Jaci. Are you ok?"

Jaci ignored the concerned looks from Bobby and Chibs along with Corbin and Larry. She stopped at the door and finally looked at Tara. She let out a ragged breath. "I'm fine. I'm fine." A humorless smile spread across her face and she looked up at Tara. "I guess I pushed him just a bit too far, you think?"

Before Tara could respond, Jaci said, "Ok…first off Vix NEVER finds out about what just happened. And don't tell Jax about this shit either. And for the love of God, NEVER repeat that limp noodle shit, ok? That was fuckin' stupid. I shouldn't have said that."

Tara nodded profusely. If Vix or Jax found out that Tig had been that aggressive towards Jaci, there would be a fight of epic portions. She had no desire to start World World III.

_**XXX**_

Vix had just hung up with Juice and was heading back inside the bar when she was nearly knocked over by her sister coming out of it. "Whoa! Where you going?"

"We're done for the night!" Jaci called over her shoulder without stopping the beeline she was making for her car with Tara hot on her heels.

Vix jogged a few steps to catch up to her sister and rattled off questions. "What the fuck happened? What did I miss? What did he do?"

"It's nothing. He pulled his bitch back. I popped off some stuff I shouldn't have but I just couldn't take anymore of the damn silent treatment! He got pissed and we yelled and I left. It's nothing, it's over."

Vix frowned. "Are you hurt or are you mad?"

"I'm fucking pissed!" Jaci said with a crazy laugh as all the alcohol she had drank that night really decided to kick in. She stopped talking and looked at the ground, to steady herself. A moment later she changed her tune. "Ok, I'm hurt. Like stab me in the heart and twist the knife kind of hurt. I'm bleeding out here, Vix. I don't understand what he's being such a dick. We broke up…it needed to happen. Ok, fine I get that. But nothing BAD happened between us, there's no reason for all of this shit! Fuckin' making out with a chick in front of me? Why the fuck does he need to do that?"

Vix couldn't think of a response, she was too surprised at Jaci being so rattled.

Jaci pulled her keys out of her pocked and tossed them at Tara, who caught them awkwardly. "Here...hope you can drive a stick."

"Errr, sort of."

Jaci walked around to the passenger side of her Mustang. "Well, grind em till you find em then."

Vix glanced at her sister, already sitting in the passenger seat of her car, then over to Tara who stood holding the keys to J's mustang "I.. I can't leave now; I just spent ten fucking minutes talking Juice into riding out here."

"I'll get her home." Tara nodded. "If you go back in there though... it's highly advisable to avoid Tig." She glanced at Jaci and added, "and tht is ALL I am gonna say on the matter."

Vix nodded, "Be careful with 3rd gear, it sticks sometimes."

Tara laughed. "She'll be lucky to have a transmission at all by the time we get to Charming."

_**XXX**_

Vix, who was never one to heed warnings, strode into the bar and directly over to what was currently serving as SAMCRO corner. "What the fuck did you do to my sister?"

Tig rolled his eyes. "Why…is she crying?"

Melissa smirked and went to open her mouth. Vix glared hard at her. "You don't want to mouth off to me, bitch. My sister got the heaping helpin' of patience in our family. I'll bust you in your pretty little mouth. Think of all the money your daddy spent on orthodontics down the drain."

The chick pushed away from Tig and walked over to the jukebox.

Bobby took a swig of beer. "J, ok?"

"As can be expected." She threw a glare at Tigger, "Tara is driving her home."

"So why are YOU still here?" Tig asked, highly irritated.

Vix sighed. "Waitin' on Juice... not that I owe you an explanation."

From over in the corner, the jukebox started blaring Def Leopards _Pour Some Sugar on Me_. Vix laughed, "Oh my... it's the Skank National Anthem."

All three SONS laughed. Bobby stood up. "Come on Parker, I'll buy ya a drink. Prime ya up for Juicey's arrival."

Juice walked in fifteen minutes later to find Vix sitting at the bar doing shots with Bobby and Chibs. He glanced in the corner and saw Tig smoking a cigarette while staring hard at a group of bar chicks dancing on the small dance floor.

Last Call Larry had seen Juice enter the establishment and make his way over towards her. Larry grinned and said loudly in Vix's direction. "Hey Vee, Bolt Boy has arrived."

Vix turned and her smile landed on Juice. "Hey Baby!" She wrapped her arms around him and snagged a kiss. "Bobby and Chibs were getting me drunk so you could take advantage of me."

Juice chuckled. "Thanks guys."

"She's all yours, bro." Bobby announced and he and Chibs bid good night to Vix and headed on over to the corner where they were greeted by a few of the girls.

_**XXX**_

Juice nodded to Big Daddy and Last Call. "Hey."Last Call saluted him with his glass..

"How you doin' Juice?" Corbin asked. "What can I get ya?"

He ordered a shot of Cuervo and a beer and then eyed Vix. "How primed did the guys get ya?"

"I can still walk and count pretty high." She answered with a laugh. "I'm good... I can drink the best of them under the table. Did you deal with the stuff at your Gramma's?"

"Yeah ... sorta... she's gonna have to rewire that whole damn place. Goddamn 1960's wiring." He downed his shot. "How was school?"

"Last Call here has agreed to be my Algebra tutor... cause the only K and Y that I know are in lubricant. What the hell I am supposed to do with them in a math problem beats the shit outta me." Vix said and then held up a finger. "I am not dumb, I am just the opposite of smart. But I don't want to think about all of that now... I want to dance."

"Come on, Vix." He groaned as she tugged on his arm. "Well pick something good at least." He chugged down his beer and allowed himself to be drug over to the jukebox.

_**XXX**_

Tara fired up the Mustang and made it out of the parking lot on the second attempt. She had killed the engine once trying to take off. As they hit the highway, she glanced over at Jaci, who was staring straight ahead and muttering while shaking her head. Tara winced, "Are you ok?"

"Fuck no." Jaci answered truthfully. "All this shit is swirling in my head and I'm kinda too fuckin' drunk to handle it."

"I have to ask this, Jaci. What do you see in him? I really don't get it. I wouldn't think you two have anything in common, you know with him being so much older and well…crazy and all."

"It's hard to explain." Jaci shook her head as her speech slurred slightly. "What YOU ALL see with him…it's not him. I mean it is, but there is more, there's BETTER. I've seen the better." She looked to see if Tara was understanding her and it was clear the good doctor was not. "THAT Tig back at the bar...that's not the REAL one." She shook her head. "Nope that's an evil twin or sumthin'. That is NOT the man I fell in love with." Jaci declared and then immediately slapped her hand over her face when she realized what she had just blurted out.

Tara winced, "Love huh?"

Jaci sighed, "Yeah. I guess so...but what's it matter? It obviously wasn't that way for him." Jaci sighed and rubbed her head, "Fuck I'm drunk."

Tara wanted to give her a heavy warning about abusive relationships but figured it would just fall on drunken deaf ears. Instead she said, "Well, don't worry about all that now. Let's just get a bottle of water down you and get you to sleep. You can crash on Jax's couch ok?"

Jaci waved her hand around and leaned her head against the passenger window. "Whatever."


	4. Chapter 4

**Walk Away from the Son**

**Parker Sister Saga continues – Season 2 of SoA**

**Chapter 4- Careless Whispers**

**By BG and Reaper**

_~ Just want to say THANKS for the wonderful, detail reviews you all have given us. It is very humbling! And a big thanks goes out to Prpldphn for her help in making Professor Connor come to life._

**Half Sack's Initiative**

With the majority of the work at the salon complete, Jaci had finally found time to work on her ever growing pile of ironing. _I really need to stop buying clothes that require this shit._ She'd think with a sigh, place the garment on the board and pick up the iron. The only things that kept her relatively sane while doing the chore were the glass of wine sitting on the end of the ironing board and the music cranking out of her iPod via her TV's surround sound system.

She was rocking out to Kings of Leon when the door bell rang once and then again. She sat the iron in its cradle, hit the pause button on her iPod and grabbed her wine glass. _This better not be the Jehovahs._ She opened the front door and found herself face to face with Half Sack. "Hey Kipp." Jaci said with a smile, "Fancy finding you at my door."

"Hey, J. Sorry to, you know, stop by without calling or something but I really need some help and you're like the only one who'd understand."

Jaci stepped aside and let the Prospect into the house. Her eyes quickly scanned the yard and street out of habit but not knowing what kind of _help_ the MC's Prospect needed, she wanted to be sure there wasn't trouble nipping at his heels.

"Is your sister and Juice here?" He asked. "I, um, didn't see her car or his bike."

Jaci eyed him and wondered what was in the manila envelope he was carrying but didn't ask. "No…they're somewhere doing stuff I am probably better off not knowing about. Just me and the ironing pile here. You want to tell me what is going on because you're honestly acting a little jumpy."

"Well…you know 3 weeks ago, at um Bobby's Welcome Home party… when I mentioned wanting to go back to school?" She nodded as he continued, "Well, I was serious and you were the only one who didn't razz me. I looked into it… and I'm gonna do it."

Jaci smiled with surprise. "Wow…that is great, Kipp. It takes a lot of nerve to try something new. I am really proud of you!"

A huge smile bloomed across his face. "Thanks, J. And that is what I need help with… I have all this um, paper work to do and since the government is involved with the GI Bill it's complicated. So I was wondering… or hoping you might help me fill 'em out."

Inwardly Jaci was doing cartwheels. She was very PRO- Higher Education and all about bettering one's self. '_Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps' _was one of her Daddy's favored expressions. Helping with paperwork was _totally_ up her alley. She smiled brightly at Half Sack. "Absolutely, I'm glad to help."

He grinned from ear to ear. "Thanks. There is so much red tape with this." He opened the envelope and pulled out a stack of papers and thin catalogs about 6 inches high. "Thanks a lot."

She eyed the pile, "Um, Kipp, when do you need this done by?"

"Well since classes have already started for Spring…" He held up his thumb and forefinger a smidge apart. "I have a tiny small little window."

'You do realize all those words mean the same thing, right?' She asked with a smirk.

He flashed her a huge, pleading grin and she groaned.

_**XXX**_

**PORN PERKS**

Juice kicked the door of his apartment closed with his boot. In his hands he balanced two 6-packs of beer and a large Tupperware container and under his arm he had tucked a non-descript brown bag. "Vix! Where you at, babe?" he called out.

"Bedroom!"

He set the container and beer on his coffee table and then walked around the wall of decorative screens that partitioned off the "bedroom" from the rest of his place. He found her laying on his bed typing on her laptop. "Still working on your paper?"

"Mmm hmm." She replied "but I am seriously ready for a break." She saved her work, closed it down and sat the computer on the bedside table. She turned around in time to see him toss something at her and instinctively caught it. "What have we got here?" She asked while eyeing the package.

"Perks of the new SAMCRO business venture." He said with a grin.

She unrolled the top of the bag and dumped the contents into her lap – 3 DVDs. She eyed them: _Pride and Pervertedness… Hot for Teacher 12… Missionary, Accomplished. _ She glanced at Juice. "SAMCRO has entered the Porn industry?"

"Sorta helpin' a _friend."_ He replied and plopped down on the bed next to her.

"Really? And how _helpful_ are you being?"

"Not as helpful as you are hinting at." He grinned. "We're just protecting the assets."

She smirked "And how sweet are those ass-ets?"

"Not as nice as this one." He smartly replied as he slapped her ass and pulled her in for a kiss. "Pick one and we'll watch it with dinner. Gram sent up pot roast."

Vix cracked up, "Porn and Pot Roast?" Juice grinned and nodding happily.

_**XXX**_

The next day…

Jaci's cellphone rang in her cup holder and she glanced at the caller id before answering…_Gemma_. "Hello?"

"And how is my favorite Parker sister doing this afternoon?" Gemma asked brightly.

Jaci frowned. "Uh oh…blatant flattery, what do you need?"

"Well…Vix said to holler if I needed anything, so I am hollering. Where are you?"

"On my way to my second full time job of helping Vix with the salon. We're setting up the office today. Everything else is finished." Jaci explained.

"That's good. Can you swing by the garage on your way home today? I got a third full time job I need you to do."

Inwardly Jaci groaned. _THREE jobs? I got nothing but time. Pile it on! _Outwardly she just automatically answered. "Yeah sure." She knew no one was allowed to tell Gemma no. A second later though she thought back to Tig's explicit threats about staying clear of him and scrambled to try and work around her new restrictions. "Um, wait…I can't. I mean… it probably wouldn't be a good idea. Can you just meet me at the salon?"

Gemma frowned at the phone. "You avoiding this place because of Tig?"

"Uh…yeah, pretty much." Jaci drummed her fingers on her steering wheel as she drove. _How do I put this diplomatically? "_We sort of decided to steer clear of each other… like _really_ clear. So dropping by his workplace would be a deal breaker." If any other guy had made those threats against her, she would have broken the rules without a second thought and told the guy to kiss her ass but this was _Tig. S_he didn't have a clue how he would react but had a sneaking suspicion she didn't want to test him.

"You two talked?" Gemma asked. "When?"

Jaci let out a nervous laugh and clarified. "More like yelled…a while back."

"Hmmph." Gemma snorted. She didn't press for any further information but she could tell Jaci was leaving out a lot of detail. "Ok, fine. I'll bring the job to you. See you in a bit."

Gemma hung up the phone and gathered the stack of papers to take to Jaci. She took the garage exit from the office. Luckily Tig was standing close by and she didn't have to yell. She smirked at Tig, "How long you had this self created restraining order against Jaci?'

He smirked back proudly. "Month."

Gemma glared. "Cute. How's that working out for you?'

Tig smiled ruefully, "Like a charm."

Gemma smirked again, "Well it's a pain in my ass."

Clay walked over from across the garage. "The fuck do you care who he's seeing or not seeing?"

"I care when I got to spend time meetin' her half-way across town cause she's been effectively banned from the premises."

"Oh what else you got to do with your time?" Clay asked with a roll of his eyes.

"Lots." Gemma quipped. "So much in fact you shouldn't be surprised if I'm spending less and less of it with you."

Clay threw his arms up dramatically. "Well there's news worthy of the evening broadcast. Someone call up the local channel!"

"Fuck you!" Gemma hissed.

"Hmph, you'd better watch it…apparently you can't fit that into your precious schedule." Clay shot back as his wife.

Her cell phone rang a second later. It was Luann throwing a fit about Bobby's new administrative role at Cara Cara. Gemma stalked off to her SUV ignoring Clay's rants to stay put. She roared out of the TM parking lot. Clay took a moment to yell at Chibs and Juice as they returned from Cara Cara bodyguard duty and then took off after Gemma on his bike.

Tig watched the drama unfold and sighed. "I hate it when Mommy and Daddy fight." He headed toward his bike.

Chibs yelled in his direction, "Hey! Where you goin'?"

"To protect Clay." Tig replied smartly.

_**XXX**_

Food, Flirting, & Favors

A few hours later…

Jaci shook her head as she watched her sister spin around in the leather desk chair. "Weeeee!" Vix yelled for effect and then stopped abruptly. "Ok, whoa… the room is spinning very fast. Thank you for letting me splurge on the big, comfy, spinning one."

"Yeah well coming from someone who spends infinite amounts of time seated in office chairs… it is COMFORT over PRICE, baby." Jaci said as she fiddled with the label maker. "Ok…. so I've labeled all the filing drawers for you. And even took the liberty of labeling the folders in each drawer." She opened a random drawer to show off her handiwork.

Vix peered inside at the extremely neat and apparently color coded drawer. "Um, J… does this rainbow of colors mean something?"

"Did you not read my memo?" Jaci asked in all seriousness.

"You sent me a memo?" Vix asked in disbelief.

Jaci couldn't help but cracking up. "No… that was a joke. And the colors mean nothing. The NAMES on the folders MEAN EVERYTHING. I just figured you'd be more apt to actually file something if you got to look at pretty colors."

"What? I can't just toss everything in a file drawer called KEEPERS?" Vix asked with a devilish smile.

"Not if you want my fucking help you can't." Jaci said staring at her. "How are you doing in entering the vendor list into that new software Juice installed on the lap top?"

"Between my college learning and trying to wrap my head around this _administrative _ shit… my brain is gonna explode with all this knowledge."

"Well brain splatter would match the paint in here. What color is this?" Juice asked from the doorway.

Vix spun around in her chair and smiled. "Hey baby! When'd you get here?"

"It's called Cherry Blossoms in the Snow, by the way." Jaci added while pointing towards the walls.

Juice nodded "Ah, this is the paint you had them mix to match your favorite nail polish…sweet."

"Move aside, move aside." Chibs hollered from somewhere out in the hall. Juice side stepped and the Scotsman entered the office. "This place is stellar… you should go into the remodeling business." 

Both girls groaned and shouted, "NO!" but then laughed. They had saved a bundle doing things on their own and Vix was practically a wizard at procuring discounts from various vendors. And they knew the work was top notch because they'd done it themselves. Both were proud as hell of the outcome and just as tired.

Half Sack could be heard saying. "Coming through, hot food…cold drinks." He walked into the office, which was now filled to capacity, carrying a six pack of beer in each hand with three pizza boxes balanced precariously on top. He was proud not to have tripped coming up the stairs to the office.

"So when is the big day, Parker?" Chibs asked while nosing around.

"As soon as the damn code inspectors give me the green light." Vix replied with a sigh. "Know anyone with connections? This down time sucks; I could be open and making real money." She was still ever thankful for the little cash flow from the steady stream of loyal clients willing to have their hair done in Jaci's garage.

"This salon is nota SAMCRO venture remember, ladies?" Chibs reminded with a smile. "But we'll see what we can do." Juice shot him a surprised look and Chibs winked.

"Thank you… thank you … any thing you can do!" Vix exclaimed. "Oh my god that pizza smells awesome. I am famished."

"Well dig in." Kipp said with a grin. "Um, Juice got that Hakuna Matatapizza for you."

Vix cracked up. "Aloha Mahkana, you goof. Ha! Now I got that damn song from the Lion King in my head." She said while opening the box. "Yummy!" She glanced over at Juice. "Thanks, baby!" He just smiled in return.

Chibs glanced down at the pizza. "What the bloody hell is on it?"

"Sauce, mozzarella cheese, Canadian bacon, pineapple and mandarin oranges." Vix informed. "It sounds gross but it is sooo good."

"No it's not, it is God awful, don't let her fool ya. Hey V, I think there are some plates and stuff in the supply room." Jaci nodded towards the hall. "What's on the other pies?" She asked the Prospect.

"Veggie Deluxe for you and me and the other is Meat Lovers." Kip replied and then held up a six pack. "And we got ya Woodchucks."

Jaci grinned and gave a fist pound to Half Sack for buying her favorite beverage. "My man!"

Vix headed out to grab plates and utensils and gave Juice a quick kiss as she passed by.

_**XXX**_

The group lounged about eating and drinking and talking. About halfway through, Vix received a call telling her that her neon sign was ready and she needed to come give the final approval and set up delivery and installation. She and Juice finished their food and headed off to _Stockton Signs and Banners_.

Jaci, Chibs and Kipp polished off the rest of their meal and headed downstairs. Jaci put her extra Woodchucks in the fridge in the break room and bagged up all the trash from dinner to haul it outside to the dumpster, didn't need the salon smelling like greasy pizza.

Kipp jumped at the chance to carry the trash outside for her while Chibs messed around with the sound system. When he and Jaci were alone outside, he said, "Hey…one more thing about my school stuff. I have to have a résumé`."

"For school?" Jaci asked with a frown.

Kipp shrugged. "I know…I don't get it either but I have to have it and I've never done one before. I'd figured you'd be the expert." Kipp winced. "And I need it tomorrow."

"Well of COUSE you do!" Jaci started to try and rack her brain on how to pull off this latest favor. "Ok, I think I have all your dates of service and stuff from all the crap we filled out last night. Go home and email me everywhere you've worked and what all you've done with dates and shit and I will see what I can do."

"You're the best, J. I'll go do all that right now." Kipp said with a smile. He ran to the back door of the salon and hollered at Chibs. "Hey, I'm gonna take off. You need me for anything? You ready to go?"

"Nope, I'm gonna TOUR the facilities here; see what all the damn fuss is about." Chibs yelled back. He waved to the Prospect. 'But go on…get out of here. See ya tomorrow, Prospect."

Jaci walked back inside and grabbed the bottle of wine she had opened earlier out of the fridge; better just to finish it off tonight rather than have it start to go bad. She found Chibs spinning slowly in a salon chair, holding a bottle of beer and looking at the floor. "Nice tile job."

She laughed. "Oh THIS is actually original, what we did is upstairs. But let me just say that laying tile is a total bitch, man."

Chibs chuckled and nodded. "Ay, I am better at layin' pipe myself." Jaci grinned at the sexual reference and shook her head; he waggled his eyebrows at her. "So what is left to do 'round here? Looks pretty damn good to me."

"Not much… just really waiting on the inspectors. As soon as they say go, we can open for business." Jaci took a swig of wine directly from the bottle. Chibs gave her an odd look and she explained. "I just opened this before you guys got here. Don't want it to go bad overnight."

Chibs wasn't sure if he found the sight of Jaci swigging wine straight from the bottle sort of hot or sort of desperate. "Good idea to be drunk and working with power tools and whatnot?"

Jaci shrugged and answered honestly, "I do everything else sorta half lit these days, why should this be any different?" She took another pull from the bottle and then tilted it toward him.

"No argument there." He took a drink and nodded. "That's pretty damn good."

"Should be; its $18 a bottle." She replied as she took the bottle back.

He laughed, "Ooh fancy drunk are ya?"

She smirked and sat down in the nearest salon chair. She pointed out all the changes they had made in the main salon room as they passed the bottle of wine back and forth occasionally. The wine mixed the Woodchucks she had drank and she had a good buzz going.

Chibs suddenly asked. "How the fuck did you get those tanning beds upstairs?"

Jaci smirked, "Show some cleavage, flirt a little bit...you wouldn't believe what a couple of delivery guys will do for you." She sighed, "Sometimes you just gotta shake what your mama gave ya."

"Ay, to be a fly on the wall during that." Chibs mused. "Flies do get laid don't they?"

"I have no idea Chibs...but they certainly get swatted." She replied playfully.

"I'm not opposed to rough stuff."

"I bet you aren't." Jaci quipped and took another drink.

"So you ready to head home?" Chibs asked.

"Not really. Vix and Juice will probably head to our place after messing with the sign. I think she's homework free tonight so that means they'll mess around and I really don't want to hear it.

Chibs laughed. "Ay, they're like a gaggle of rabbits, fuckin' all the time eh?"

"I think gaggles are for geese."

"Oh."

"At least I'm pretty sure... but yeah they are, well when they're not fighting - which they seem to do a lot lately. If they aren't banging doors, they're banging each other, either way gives me a headache and drives me insane. Having to listen to that shit… it's goddamn unfair." Jaci complained.

It took a moment for her comment to dawn on him. "Ooooh...so since you and Tigger split up...you haven't...there hasn't been anybody...?" Jaci shook her head. He teased her. "But what about that handsome college boy from the bar a while back? Should ring him up; I'm sure he'd love to help you out."

"No way in hell." Jaci replied.

He raised his eyebrows and grinned, "Well ya know...you could always..." He made a vibrating noise.

She laughed. "Ah, no...I'm not a do it yourself kinda girl"

He leaned his head back on the chair and looked at the ceiling as he blew out a breath. "Two months...geez, I think I'd die if I went that long without getting laid."

She laughed and played along with his unfounded typical male paranoia. "Oh you wouldn't die…your dick might shrivel up and fall off…but you wouldn't DIE."

Chibs continued to lounge in the chair and thought about the woman sitting across from him. He took a pull from his beer and then smiled at her. "Well…I'll be completely honest with ya, luv. I'd be more than happy to end that little dry spell of yours…if it weren't for your past history with a certain brother of mine. Cause if word of our little tumble in the hay got back to said certain brother…he'd remove my dick with a blunt object."

Jaci gave a sly smile at Chibs' offer and flirted back. "You're assuming I'd say yes to you."

"Ay…I can be very convincin'…you'd say yes, trust me. Matter of fact you'd probably scream it." Chibs replied with a wink.

XXX

Chibs took off a half an hour later when the wine bottle was empty. Jaci felt a bit weird about talking so candidly with him but she had a feeling he wouldn't go running and telling Tig anything that she had said. Tig wouldn't give a shit anyway. It was clear he was a thousand percent over her. She grabbed her car keys and headed for the back door, only to hear a knock at the front door. She turned and walked back in that direction and saw Gemma on the other side of the glass door. _Shit…third job, totally forgot about her._

Jaci unlocked the door and let Gemma inside. "It's late. Did you get a little distracted on your way over?"

"Something like that." Gemma replied but didn't share the drama about the screaming match she had gotten into with Clay at Cara Cara. "I can't stay long…just wanted to give you this." Gemma thrust a manila envelope thick with papers at her.

"I'm beginning to hate these things. Everything someone hands me one, it means a shit ton of work for me." Jaci replied.

"Well you won't be disappointed then. Need you to do the taxes for the guys in the Club. That's all of their W2s and any info I thought you might need. If you're missing anything, just call the guy and grill them."

Jaci winced as she thumbed through the papers. "Don't you have someone that does this already?"

Gemma smiled. "Well of course…but we had to PAY him. Why do that when we could just put that precious Accounting degree of yours to work for FREE?" Gemma patted Jaci on the shoulder. "The guys are getting a little antsy for their refunds, so you might want to jump on this."

"Will do." Jaci planted a big fake smile on her face as Gemma breezed out of the salon. Filing income taxes wasn't actually a hard task but it damn sure was a time consuming one, especially when she would be doing it for at least eight people. She thought of all the drama, Piney would have medical bills; Op would have kids and a dead wife to deal with…_damnit. _She pursed her lips as she wondered if she could throw enough flags on Tig's return to force an IRS audit.

_**XXX**_

Naked résumés are better

Jaci yawned as her alarm rang the next morning. She laid in bed, still tired from staying up late and trying to organize her newfound tax task. She couldn't decide if Gemma was trying to keep her close by giving her an odd task or if she was just being used by the Club as slave labor. The truth was probably a little of both. Jaci started to think about what she had to do at her REAL job that day; that job that actually paid the bills. Something was bothering her, there was something she was forgetting but she just couldn't put her finger on…

"HOLY SHIT!" Jaci exclaimed. "KIPP!" She threw back the covers and jumped out of bed. She had totally forgotten about working on his résumé the night before. "Shit, shit shit!" She ran down the hall to the kitchen table and scooped up the notes that she and Kipp had scribbled for his other paperwork. She ran back down the hall and pounded on Vix's door. No answer. She opened the door and found the room empty. Her sister must have stayed the night at Juice's place which sucked because Jaci was really hoping to have Vix type the résumé while she dictated. Résumés were a giant pain in the ass; she would rather do TEN tax returns than just one résumé due to the level of concentration and wordsmithing that had to be done.

"Okay okay. I can do this." Jaci muttered. She got her laptop up and running on top of her bed and checked her email. Thankfully Kipp had come through and actually sent her a list of past jobs and details. She pulled up a résumé template and typed in his basic info and then rushed to take a shower.

Once she was out of the shower, the real whirlwind of activity began and it was a good thing she was home alone because she spent the next half hour rushing around completely naked. She brushed her teeth and put on her makeup while trying to think of ways to make military combat experience translate into viable work experience and ways to make repo-ing cars and pretty much being a go-fer bitch at Teller Morrow sound exciting and important. She typed a section and then ran to blow dry her hair and cursed herself for letting it to grow long, she would have happily traded for Vix's short hair that morning just to curb the prep time.

She pretty much finished the résumé after twisting Kipp's involvement with the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club into sounding like community involvment. She then tried to remember just where in the hell she might have hid fancy résumé paper in her house as she flat ironed her hair. Her lack of concentration on the task at hand resulted in a scorched fingertip but there was no time to whine. She suddenly remembered seeing a certain box in the garage so she literally dropped the flat iron and ran for the garage.

Jaci bent over and rummaged through a storage locker with her naked ass in the air and prayed that her sister didn't pick this moment to pull up and use her garage door opener. She found the paper she needed and jogged back inside to her bedroom. The printer for the house was actually in the spare bedroom. Jaci grabbed her laptop and ran to that room, hooking up to the printer with a USB cord and then had to JUMP over the cord when she realized she had forgotten the paper back in her bedroom. She took a quick peak at the clock and let out a squeak of panic. "Hurry hurry hurry!"

She hit print for a rough draft copy of the résumé and sprinted back to her room to get dressed. Of course today was the day she couldn't find one of her black shoes so she ending up stripping out of the entire outfit and switched clothes so she could wear brown shoes instead. She ran down the hall to proofread the résumé and quickly fixed a few mistakes and formatting problems. Finally happy, she printed a few copies and shoved them in a file folder.

She slammed her laptop closed, headed out of the room and… promptly tripped over the printer cord that was stretched out in front of her. She hit the carpet floor and cursed the day she didn't buy a wireless enabled printer. Jaci scrambled to her feet while letting loose a cursing tirade that would have made a sailor blush and rushed around to grab a few things before heading out the door.

She took one quick last look in the mirror. _Fine, good to go…no… wait a second._ There was something _off _about her appearance. It took a moment but she finally realized the problem. _Oh fuck me! _She hadn't applied eye makeup to both eyes. One eye was beautiful, complete with shadow, liner and mascara, the other eye…not so much. "Goddamnit!" She exclaimed a loud and skirted back to her bathroom to finish her face.

Jaci jumped in her car a few moments later and roared toward Teller Morrow without thinking. She came to her senses down the street and quickly called Half Sack. She verified that he was at work already and asked if Tig was there yet.

Half Sack seemed confused. "He's not here. Why?"

Jaci tried to explain as she sped down the road. "'He and I can't be in the same place at the same time...it causes problems."

"Oh…I'm sorry. Wait…what kind of problems? You guys were ok at Bobby's party…"

"No, there's big problems now…like crossing the beams in Ghostbusters." Jaci warned.

"Oooooh, ok." The Prospect mused. "Well he doesn't usually get here till like 8:15."

Jaci thought for a moment and decided, _Fuck it. _ She was helping a damn member of the Club. If Tig wanted to get pissed and throw a fit, he could just do it and look stupid. "Cool. I'll be there in five. Be outside and ready to grab this shit."

_**XXX**_

Work at Teller Morrow had not really started yet and the guys that were there were just milling around. Jaci roared into the lot and parked her car but left it running and took off running toward Kipp, which was comical to watch since she was wearing heels.

Vix had followed Juice to work from his place and was hanging out with the guys for a few moments before she had to head off to school. "Morning, sis!" She yelled brightly.

Jaci scowled at her and shoved the folder of résumés toward Kipp. He grinned, "Dude! A folder, I didn't think of that!"

"Of course you didn't. You're welcome." Jaci smirked. "And take pride in the fact that your résumés were probably the only ones printed by a hot naked chick this morning."

Bobby raised his eyebrows at that statement and listened as Jaci gave the Prospect a thirty second run down of his résumé. "Here's your high school stuff, here's your military training, Iraq stuff and you're work stuff from here."

Half Sack's eyes were wide as he scanned the info. "Damn this is GOOD."

Bobby snatched the résumé from him and read it. He whistled. "Second only to my divorce settlement, this is the best bullshit I've ever read."

"Great, thanks!" Jaci took a tiny bow and then turned to head back to her car. "Late for work...gotta go!"

Half Sack yelled after her, "Thank you! Uh…you look nice today!' Jaci kept running but flipped him off for the hell of it.

Jax pulled into the parking lot on his bike just in time to see the handoff and Jaci running back to her car. She tossed a wave in his direction and he did the same with an amused smile on his face. Jax was still smiling as he walked over to Juice and Vix. He tossed a thumb in Jaci's direction. "She's gotten flightier, man... what's your sister up to lately?"

Vix grinned. "Nude résumé building." The expression on Jax's face was priceless. Vix grinned and asked, "Sorry you asked?"

"Not at all." Jax replied as he sort of enjoyed the mental picture. "She could probably make a lot of money doing that."

Vix walked off to say goodbye to Juice and Jax nodded toward the Prospect. "So what you need a résumé for? Tired of being our bitch?"

Half Sack shook his head. "Umm, no... I just thought I would like broaden my horizons with you know… a college degree?"

Jax nodded along. "Sounds great but you'd better check with the Big Boss first... prospecting is a 24/7 gig, man."

Bobby pointed towards where Juice and Vix were parting ways for the day. "And as those two are finding out the hard way, climbing the ladder of success is a time consuming and risky thing."

"Why what's wrong with the golden couple?" Jax inquired. He'd been so wrapped up in his own drama lately that he was a bit out of touch.

Chibs laughed. "Ay, 'cordin' to Jaci they can't seem to find a middle ground these days. They're either fuckin' or fighting and judging by Juice's moodiness I'm guessing MORE of the latter."

Jax shook his head and then looked at Half Sack. "Check with Clay before you make your big plans official."

"Yeah, ok no problem. Thanks." The Prospect muttered.

XXX

**Morally Ethical**

Vix wandered into her Morals and Ethics class and found her normal perch about mid-way up the stadium-seated lecture hall. She took out her lap top and located her notes file on her memory stick, then opened up her E-text book and pulled out a note pad and pen. She still found the need to scribble some notes down "old school style". She glanced at the chalk board and jotted down the quote that today's discussion would be based on…

"**You are who you pretend to be." – Vonnegut, Jr.**

She pondered the various ways that those words could be interpreted as the class began to file in around her. Most of the students were chatting amongst themselves; one chick is ordering airline tickets off the internet on her laptop, a few were watching movies or watching videos on Youtube. Vix had been taking classes at San Joaquin Community College for a while now, yet from time to time she still got that Dorothy-waking-up-in-Oz feeling.

Professor Connor suddenly walked in; he strode across the front of the hall to the desk and podium. He was tall and lean with dark hair that liked to flop in his eyes; he was forever pushing it back off his forehead. While not classically handsome, in Vix's estimation, he was certainly cute and someone who demanded attention. He slipped his aviator sunglasses in his bag and took a swig from a steaming Styrofoam cup then began speaking.

Vix flipped on the sound recorder that Juice had installed on her lap top to aid in her studying.

"Buddah once said, 'Those who have failed to work towards the truth have missed the purpose of living." Connor began.

Vix glanced around at her classmates and watched them digest the information. The girl next to her leaned over and whispered, "Professor McHeartthrob… is he for real?"

The girl seated to the left of the question asker whispered back, "I heard he might not get tenure – he is a bit wild."

The first girl nodded, completely enthralled. "Cool."

At the front of the hall Connor continued, "The first duty of man or woman, must be politically correct nowadays, is the seeking after and the investigation of truth, so said Cicero. The discussion is now on… victim number one occupies hot seat 102."

Vix groaned internally and quickly glanced to her right at the little metal number plate attached to that seat, it read 103. _Mothershitfuck_, Vix cussed under her breath. She cleared her throat and tried to force some saliva as her mouth was suddenly struck dry.

"Ah, yes... Miz Parker." Connor smiled up at her. "What says you on the subject of truth? And do try to be entertaining, I believe the coffee house slipped me a decaf this morning." He winked at her.

Vix wanted to sound intelligent, wanted to sound like she belonged and could hang with this crowd but all she could think of was that child hood chat _Liar, Liar, pants on fire. FUCK! That won't do. _Suddenly the image of Father Carlin came to mind. The last time she had managed to wake up in time to attend church with Ms. Ruby and Henry Darling the whole thing had been about this subject.

"Um, well if you're going to go with quotes on the subject, why don't we just pull out the big guns? Jesus, Moses, God, Satan, the Twelve Apostles, the Ten Commandments, the Seven Deadly Sins." Vix mentally checked herself and prayed she'd gotten the right numbers assigned to the correct list of rules. Dyslexia could be a total bitch at times.

"Biblical...interesting way to take this topic, proceed." Connor said as he took a seat in the front row and turned to listen.

"Well, you know, everyone wants you to believe that the world is all ordered and manageable…with laws and punishments to fit the level of crime committed. We all know the _thou shalt nots._.. ya know kill, steal, commit adultery but there is like no, _thou shalt not lie_ in the 10 Commandments. Well, they sorta allude to it with the whole bearing of false witness thing but there is no out and out No Lying commandment. And well, don't you think if it were important it would be one of the Big Ten?"

"Interesting." Connor replied and stood but then he noticed the look on her face. "Oh, you weren't finished."

"I… I could be." Vix said to a chorus of chuckles from her class mates.

"No, no go on…I'm intrigued."

"I just think maybe it's because there are levels of truthfulness. You know, there's fibs, white lies, half-truths, stretching-the-truth, cock n bull stories, and even if you tell an all out whopper of a lie, that doesn't make you unadulteratedly evil. Everybody Lies… wait ok, that wasn't a Biblical quote, that was from House, MD."

Laughs abounded.

Vix continued, "If you can talk, it's unavoidable. Everyone in the universe does it… from the simple telling someone they look great even though they've packed on 50 pounds to oohing and ahhing over someone's baby when they really just look like a little hairless monkey. Or telling the boss you're sick when all you really want to do is spend the day eating popcorn and watching the Home Shopping Network. Everyone in the universe lies – it's a human condition."

"Well done, Parker, well done." Conner said with a smile. "Ok, next victim occupies hot seat number 57." A groan was heard from the front of the lecture hall."

**XXX**

**Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah… Inspector Gadget**

Jaci walked back in the office from her lunch break. The office secretary held up a message slip. "You missed a call."

"Inspect Gadget?" Jaci read from the slip with a frown. The secretary nodded and Jaci laughed as she headed to her office. "Um ok." The message and phone number were probably totally bullshit but she dialed the number anyway.

"This is Jaci Parker…returning a call from an Inspector Gadget." Jaci could barely keep from laughing at the absurdness. She blurted out her suspicions. "Is this a joke? Chibs is that you?"

"I assure you it is not a joke. I am the San Joaquin County Building Inspector and for your information it is NOT pronounced _Gad-jet_. It is_ Ga-jay_, this number was listed as an alternative contact for VIXSIN, Inc. doing business as TWISTED SCISSORS SALON and DAY SPA. I am just calling to inform you that I will be at the location in Charming within the hour."

The man's stern reply snapped Jaci to attention. "Within THIS hour?" Jaci asked, startled.

"Yes." The gentleman replied flatly. "And I will require the presence of either Victoria Parker or yourself at my inspection."

"I'm in Oakland right now and my sister has class today."

"Ms. Parker, for reasons unbeknownst to me, your application was bumped to its current spot on my extremely long list. If one of you is not present within the hour, it will go to the bottom of that list."

"Well then I guess I will see you within the hour, Inspector Gadget!" Jaci said with fake sweetness and hung up.

XXX

**The Proposition**

Vix was packing up her things when the professor approached her. "Vix Parker, very proud of you today."

She nodded and smiled. "Thanks! I can BS with the best of 'em."

"No, no… your thoughts were very well formulated, hard to argue with Biblical quotes." He chuckled.

"I did manage to toss in a pop culture reference." Vix added and laughed.

"Yes, quoting House, nice touch." He cocked his head. "So… I was hoping you'd join me for lunch so I could proposition you."

"Excuse me?" Vix said, startled.

"A bit of humor, lighten up, geez. What I really want to do is take you to lunch and beg you to audit my class on Free Will and Philosophical Thought."

Vix frowned. "You've got to be kidding me right? I am up to my eye balls in this school shit… mid terms are coming up and what exactly do you do when you audit a class anyway?"

He smiled. "You'd get to spend the class in a movie theater and take notes for me to discuss later."

"Are you kidding me? And I get credit for that?" Vix held up a finger. "Wait, how many credits is that class? I am tapped on student loans, man. And I'd have a devil of a time convincing my family that …"

Conner waved her off. "It's part of a free senior seminar, no cost but the movie ticket, which I will gladly cover along with popcorn and ridiculously over priced candy if you'd consider it."

"Lunch, movie, popcorn, candy, and credits towards graduation?" Vix looked at him skeptically. "Sorry, teach but don't piss on my head and tell me it's raining. There ain't no such thing as free. Last time I had anything nearing that level of nicety, I had to seriously put out and then the dude wanted me to blow his two best friends. So don't think so but thanks for the offer."

"See? THAT is what I am after." Connor said with a grin. 

"What is?"

"The raw vision and analysis of the project. I don't want the cookie cutter answer I know I'll get from any one of these other students."

Vix sighed. "Ok… just for shits and giggles, what is the film we are even talking about?"

"Kiss Me Deadly; classic example of 50's film noir." Connor replied and raised his eyebrows. "What do you say?"

"I don't know." Vix said with a shrug. "I liked the song."

"Song?"

Vix rolled her eyes and sang quietly, "Lita Ford? _I went to a party last Saturday Night… I didn't get laid, I got in a fight_..."

Connor cracked up. "I love that… and I will pester you endlessly until you say yes. So gather your things and meet me in the parking lot in ten minutes."

_**XXX**_

…**a MILF a day…**

"They went to Manteca on a parts run." Gemma said into the phone. "Not sure... maybe they're in cell hell right about now. Ok, yeah, I'll tell him as soon as they get back. Be good at school, Vix."

Gemma hung up the phone as the Jaguar purred its way into the parking lot. Its sleek form glistened in the late-morning sun. _Ooh, showy!_ was Gemma's first thought at seeing the car. _Stunning!_ was her first thought at seeing the woman who slipped out of the driver's side door.

She watched the woman glance around and take in her surroundings… from the line of Harleys framing the lot to the open garage bay doors revealing the auto repair that seemed to have stopped upon her arrival and then over to the group of men gathered around picnic tables under a pavilion area, who also seemed to be paused and watching her.

She suddenly seemed to notice Gemma standing in the doorway of the shop office and turned in her direction. Long strides carried her across the parking lot. Her full, red lips were held in a pout-ish way. She was wearing form-fitting black slacks and a long-sleeved white blouse that was tucked in at her slim, belted waist. Her heels clicked against the pavement as she walked. As she neared Gemma, another word came to mind, _statuesque_. The woman was 6 feet tall if she was an inch.

Gemma glanced from the approaching woman, her eyes scanned those present and everyone with a Y chromosome seemed to be enthralled. It was all that Gemma could do not to get her hackles up. She forced a smile on her face at the vision of feminine loveliness before her. The woman smiled and in deep-throaty voice said, "I am some kind of happy to see you, darlin'."

It wasn't the _Lauren Bacall_ factor of her voice that stunned Gemma, it was the fact that this woman sounded like one of the Parker girls…she was Southern.

Gemma smirked. "And how is that, darlin'? Cause by the sound of your car, that ain't where your trouble lies." Gemma glanced once again in the direction of the clubhouse and saw that the boys were in obvious discussion about a certain classy little chassis and she'd bet dollars to doughnuts that the body being analyzed didn't run on a 4.2 liter, V8 or have 420 horsepower at 6 thousand RPMs.

"Oh, good heavens no!" The woman breathed. "I'm here looking Kipp Epps."

"You're here for Kipp?" Gemma questioned and was slightly amused/bemused as she took in the woman's French manicure, flawless makeup and perfectly coiffed shoulder-length auburn hair. "Well, Koo- Koo Ka-choo, Mrs. Robinson. He's out on a business matter. You're welcome to wait if you want, preferably in here... so maybe my guys COULD GET SOME WORK DONE'!" Gemma yelled for the benefit of the crowd of gawkers. She kicked the office door shut for emphasis.

The woman smiled. "I know what you're probably thinking... it happens more often than not but I assure you that you're entirely mistaken, darlin'.'"

"Am I now?"

"Yes." The woman nodded and smiled, barring a set of teeth so white the gleam off of them was practically blinding. "I'm Kipp's mother." She slipped off her sunglasses and revealed a set of eyes that could have been plucked right out of the Prospect's head.

Gemma took a closer look at the woman standing before her and suddenly certain familiar features began to emerge, "Well, whatever beauty routine you got goin' on, I'd stick with it. I'd never have guessed you had a kid, let alone one that age."

"Well I appreciate that. Thank you for letting me wait. Kipp usually goes out of his way to avoid all contact, so this visit is a bit unannounced on my part."

Gemma nodded, "No problem. So, Mrs. Epps, can I get you a drink?"

"First of all," the woman smiled, "The only Mrs. Epps I know is my ex-mother-in-law... a woman who sobbed through her baby boy's wedding from start to finish and hers were NOT tears of joy."

Gemma almost laughed as she watched the woman take a seat in the nearby chair and cross her long legs as she continued, "And it gives me an enormous amount of pleasure to report that MRS. Epps went to her heavenly reward quite a few years back."

That time Gemma couldn't help but laugh. The woman joined her as she begged with sarcastic dismay. "So please let THAT woman rest in peace. My name is Martina, but I'd be quite pleased if you'd call me Marti."

"Gemma." She replied with a nod and a smile. "Kipp never mentioned he was half-Southern... we've currently have a few Alabama girls in our midst."

"Doesn't surprise me - he's always been a bit standoffish when it comes to family details and dealings. Alabama, hmm, Crimson Tide, I'm a Tarheel through and through - born and bred in Charlotte...transplanted to San Francisco. I've been there longer than I care to admit, but it'll never be home."

"So Marti... can I get you a drink? Burnt coffee? Weak tea? Something with a bit more kick?"

_**XXX **_

Gemma left the woman in the office and crossed the lot to the clubhouse. Clay nodded towards the office, "Your new BFF... quite the looker."

Gemma rolled her eyes, "Yeah, if you're into trophy wives."

"Which I most certainly am, I got the Triple Crown, right here." Clay grinned and winked.

"Nicely played." Gemma smirked and thought he must be still sucking up for his irrational behavior the other day.

Tig nodded from his perch atop one of the picnic tables, "Married, huh? I got no moral indifference to bangin' married chicks." He cracked his knuckles. "And it's been a LONG time since I fucked a woman any where close to my own age but I'd take a run at that."

Chibs nodded, "Aye, shakin' it like that…looks like she knows what she's doing." He punched Tig on the shoulder. "She might teach you a thing or two."

Tig scoffed and shoved at Chibs. "Shit, you can't teach the MASTER, bro."

Gemma listened to the guys ramble on in explicit detail about the woman. It suddenly dawned on her that she was the oldest 'old lady' of the SAMCRO crew. That used to be a matter of pride with her but suddenly she thought it to be a liability. What if Clay ever found out what Weston and those men had done to her? How quick would he drop her for a life like Tig's or Chibs'…no restrictions or responsibilities, able to fuck young pussy at anytime. She shook off the thought and plastered a smirk on her face. At least she could bring the men down a notch or two right now.

"Tsk, tsk…you boys may want to reign in the MILF thoughts. The Prospect's been all up in there." Gemma advised with a grin.

"The fuck you talkin' about? The fuckin' Prospect couldn't touch _that_ ass with both hands, a road map and a compass." Tig said with an annoyed shake of his head. He laughed and took a pull off his beer bottle.

"I didn't say a word about her ass... but he's been up close and personal with other parts of her nether regions…when she gave birth to him."

The startling revelation had its desired effect… all three men were stunned speechless.

Chibs was the first to recover. "That's the prospect's mum? Mama Half Sack?" He asked in disbelief.

"Oh Jesus Christ!' Tig said with a shudder as he shut down all the illicit thoughts he had going about the redheaded woman. He stood up and started to look around. "We got any bleach? Shit, I need to dunk my fuckin' eyeballs in it man? Are you serious?" Gemma smiled and nodded.

"Damnit." Chibs mumbled.

Tig headed to the clubhouse for another beer. "I'm gonna go cut my dick off for even thinking about fucking that woman." He scowled and pointed toward his belt buckle, muttering. "Bad penis … bad penis!"

_**XXX**_

**Kiss Me Deadly**

Vix was waiting by her car when Connor came walking out of the building and across the lot. He'd changed clothes and was now wearing black pants and a retro-looking black and white checked button down with it's sleeves rolled up a bit, same aviator glasses, same messy hair.

Vix shook her head and called out. "Well don't you look nice?" She slid off the hood of her car. "Are we swinging by an Abercrombie photo shoot on our way to lunch?"

Connor chuckled but dismissed her comment. "You're in luck... well, we're in luck. You said Mondays were the only day you have available, I was able to score two tickets to the 1:30 showing."

"1:30 today? As in an hour?" Vix asked glancing at her watch. "How long is the movie?"

"Little over an hour and a half, give or take depending on the projectors functioning properly. Why? Is now a bad time?"

"Um, no... I guess not." Factoring in travel, movie time, likely some sorta discussion afterwards and hopefully they'd multi-task and eat while discussing the movie, she was not going to make it back to Charming shy of at least 7pm if not later. "I... I just have to make a phone call."

Connor nodded. "I'll bring my car around."

Vix dialed her cell phone as Connor walks towards the faculty parking lot. She got Juice's voice mail _again_ and decided to leave a quick message explaining that the last minute school stuff she had was going to take longer than she had told Gemma. She'd be home sometime this evening. She was just ending the call when a Bentley rolled to a stop in front of her. The driver's side window rolled down to reveal Connor sitting in it.

"You drive a Bentley?" Vix said, stating the obvious.

"Points for observation, Miz Parker. Now climb in, down town traffic can be awful this time of day. Bring your lap top. You're going to want to take those notes we talked about." He grinned as he rolled the window back up.

She grabbed her stuff and slid in the passenger seat of Connor's extraordinarily exquisite ride. She glanced around nervously. "This is very nice... I'm damn near afraid to exhale to deeply in this thing."

"Thanks…I think. But please do keep breathing."

Vix nodded. "Ok, I will. I didn't know college professors at state schools made enough dough to afford..."

Connor cut her off. "This was my father's car, I inherited it when he died.."

"Oh, I'm sorry.

"Don't be, I'm not. He was an extraordinary bastard. He loved this car more than my mother and certainly more than me. Some days it is all I can do to NOT send it careening off the highest cliff I can find."

"Well that's comforting... ya know… being that I'm currently a passenger." Vix said with a laugh. "But we got something in common …my car... it was my dad's too. Got it when he died. It was nothing more than a shell and a bunch of boxes of parts. My daddy was the King of unfinished projects. Me, my uncle and some friends of his, we re-built it from the tires up. She's my baby"

Connor smiled over at her. "Ok, I will pose a question I've always had to an obvious car enthusiast... does she have a name?"

"Of course." Vix smiled. "Her name is Cecelia ... but don't ever call her that - she gets cantankerous. She likes to be called Ce-Ce."

He shook his head and laughed. "Of course she does. Now why are cars always girls?"

Vix smiled. "If you have to ask the question, you're not ready to know the answer. Come on Connor... smokin' hot chasis, smooth lines and curves in all the right places... sleek interior... and not to mention whatever is going on under the hood. How could that possibly NOT be a girl?"

"Wow." Connor replied with a smirk. "That was practically erotic."

Vix laughed. "Speed is an aphrodisiac, Connor. I love fast, loud, shiny things... give me a heartbreak Harley or a supped-up muscle car... beautiful things, man." Vix glanced out the window as they drove on. "So where are we headed?"

"_Stockton Empire Theater,_ over on Pacific Ave."

The Stockton Empire Theater was redone old theater house and now only ran art films and hosted lectures and benefits. The viewing room was small and just exuded intellectualness. The floor was covered in stale popcorn and cigarette butts. To Vix's delight you could still smoke inside this theater, continue on the road to lung cancer with a side of popcorn and RC Cola.

"Cloris Leachman? Wasn't she just like on Dancing with the Stars?" Vix leaned over and whispered to Connor as the movie began.

"I believe so, but this is from back in 1951, when she was young and hot." Connor leaned over and replied.

"You know she moved pretty good for an old lady." Vix laughed before settling in to watch the film and type notes. The movie was black and white and opened with a shot of some deserted highway and the sounds of a woman sobbing in the background. The picture was grainy and the sound quality was horrific and more than a bit muffled but Vix was hooked immediately.

XXX

Juice and Half Sack finally rolled back into the Teller Morrow lot from their parts run. They walked toward the garage bays with their arms full of boxes just as Gemma and Marti stepped outside to greet them.

"MOM?" Half Sack breathed with surprise and scrambled to grab a box he had nearly dropped in surprised. "What are you doing here? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, dear." Marti soothed. "Haven't seen you in a while, thought I would drop by and maybe take you to lunch."

Half Sack's forehead creased with a deep frown. He shook his head. "Sorry…I can't go. We're way too busy today. You should have called."

"So you could look at the caller id and ignore it?" Marti asked.

Juice stood frozen by his friend's side and glanced at Gemma, unsure what to do since there seemed to be a family argument about to bloom. Gemma jumped to action, recognizing that same _Leave me alone, Mom _annoyance she saw in Jax sometimes. "Come on, Kipp. The garage can survive without you. Your mother has been here getting ogled by every man on this lot for long enough. If she wants to treat you to a meal, it's the least you could do for her trouble. You're little parts run sort of put an end to lunch, go have an early dinner instead. Take the rest of the day off."

Kipp started to protest but one look from Gemma told him it would be a worthless fight. He sighed. "Alright, alright." He lifted the boxes in his arms. "Let me put these up first."

He squared away the parts and then left for lunch with Marti in her car.

Juice stood in the garage organizing the parts they had just brought back. Gemma walked up to him. "Vix is looking for you."

He snorted and then mumbled. "Yeah I know, got her voice mail… same shit different day."

The ogling of Marti from earlier by the other guys and now Juice's blatant disregard of Vix was too much for Gemma. They all need to show some damn appreciation for what they had in life. She stepped closer to Juice. "You ever stop to think that YOU may be the reason she's taking on all this _shit_? She is trying to build a life here. But she doesn't have to... Abel is getting better every day; she and Jaci saw him thru the storm. They could bail on this town any day. She is staying for YOU, Jaci is staying for her. So when you're tossing _**blame**_ around for her so-called neglectfulness... make damn sure some of that lands on you."

Juice looked and Gemma and couldn't think of anything to do but blink. Her little tirade had taken him by complete surprise. Gemma didn't wait for a response, just turned and headed back into the office, slamming the door. Juice frowned as he held a tail light in his hand and began to really think about the truth of Gemma's words.

**XXX**

**Welcome to Misunderstanding Dinner Theater**

Kipp's mother had picked an older restaurant in Stockton for their dinner date. It wasn't too crowded and they were seated and eating quickly. Kipp had been doing his best to just answer any of his mother's inquiries about his life with nods or grunts or shrugs. He was shoveling a fork full of salad into his mouth when heard a familiar voice. He smiled, Vix's southern twang was hard to mistake. He was getting ready to say Hi when he watched the hostess walk by, followed by Vix and a man Kipp didn't recognize. Kipp shrank back into his seat.

As they walk past, he heard Vix say "I still don't know what to make of that movie, Connor. It went from a simple detective story to some weird-ass, sci-fi apocalypse thing."

Kipp chewed and swallowed hard. He paused with his fork halfway between his plate and watched as the hostess seated Vix and the guy in the booth directly ahead of his. His mother watched him intently. "Is everything alright, Kippy?"

He nodded but remained silent. He could see the Connor guy and immediately didn't like the looks of him and listened intently to the conversation taking place at the next table.

"So…" Connor said with a smile. "…you're glad you came out with me then?"

"It's definitely not some place I'd have ever went to on my own... don't think any of my friends would have either... maybe my sister." Vix answered.

"So you admit it was fun then?"

"Ok, yes... I had a very nice time. And thanks for the movie, the popcorn, the soda, the M&Ms and Twizzlers."

"And now lunch and credits towards graduation. All that and you don't even have to fuck me or blow my best friends... unless you want to of course." Connor replied with a swarmy grin.

Kipp's jaw dropped open as he heard the explicit talk. He didn't even realize he was holding his breath until the lack of oxygen began to make him dizzy. He sucked in a huge breath of air and took a big drink of water.

His mother stared at him. "Are you certain you're alright?"

He missed Vix's reply to the guy's proposition, as it was drown out by his mother's inquiry. Kipp nodded emphatically and had to fight the urge to shush his mother as he strained to hear the conversation that had gotten a bit quieter.

"I don't something about watching those grainy images made me feel like part of a bad dream. Nothing went right for those people... and everyone was rotten, and disloyal and murdering everyone around them."

Kipp listened as Vix and the Connor guy ordered drinks, he got wine, she got a Captain and Coke. The guy teased Vix, "What no wine before um, 7?"

"8, actually." Vix said with a laugh and Kipp cringed.

"But Captain Morgan Rum and Coke is fine for consumption at any time?"

"You got it."

Connor laughed, "You are something else, I must admit." Kipp scowled and stared down at his plate.

**XXX**

Kipp continued to listen to Vix and her lunch date banter back and forth. He listened to them the best he could but often missed chunks of their conversation due to his mother rambling on about family news. He heard bits about a term paper about appearances versus reality and something about planets that was funny enough to have the Connor guy choke and spew wine out of his nose.

Vix confessed to getting Plato and Pluto a bit confused. "But then this really smart chick I know pointed out that the planet, that isn't even a planet anymore, is called Pluto. Well crap I thought that was just Mickey's dog."

"You really are one of a kind aren't you?" Connor asked with a smile.

"I'm an original." Vix replied.

Kipp's mom declined dessert from their waitress but Kipp shook his head violently and point hurriedly to a picture of pie. He slowly ate the dessert just to have an excuse to stick around the restaurant and eavesdrop some more.

The noise level in the restaurant rose suddenly and Kipp missed Vix thanking god for her sister and how she was really smart and would get along great with Connor. Vix even offered to set them up. Kipp also didn't hear Vix bragging on Juice and how he was genius level smart and she wondered why he was with someone like her, who was clearly the OPPOISTE of smart.

Vix took a large sip of her drink. "I suppose for argument's sake, he could be with me for my looks. I am damn cute aren't I?" Kipp only caught the last bit of that sentence which made it sound like Vix was fishing for a compliment and the asshole with her was happy to give her one.

Connor nodded. "Exceedingly so... but you are far mistaken if you deem yourself UN SMART. You appear to be naive and unschooled."

Vix laughed. "Oh I don't just appear it honey... I flunked the 2nd, 3rd and 9th grade before they figured out I was dyslexic. Dropped out of school at 16, I got sick of struggling. I used to hide my tests and report cards like other kids hide porn. My Uncle and Aunt finally just agreed to let me take my GED. Honestly I think we were all just worn out."

Kipp stabbed another piece of pie with his fork and wondered why the hell Vix was spilling her life's story to the guy.

Connor continued his flirting and compliments. "You have a skillful mind and you see things in a unique way."

"Thank you." Vix said before he cut her off.

"In addition... you appear to be a woman who takes her beauty for granted."

"Are you calling me vain?" Vix asked with a laugh.

"I'm calling you enchanting." Connor corrected.

Vix downed the rest of her drink. "And I'm calling it a day. Enough fun for one afternoon, would you kindly take me back to my car? I'll proof those notes on the movie and email them to you. By Thursday be good?"

Kipp missed the bit about notes and email and only heard her mention Thursday being good. He saw Connor slid out of the booth and Kipp promptly pushed his fork into the floor under the booth so Vix wouldn't see him as she walked by. He shook his head in worry as he waited for them to walk past him. This might possibly be the weirdest dinner he had ever had.

**XXX **

It was near 7PM when Vix got back to Charming and Juice was on guard duty at Cara Cara. He was a bit less pissy than normal when she called to check in, which was a nice change from the norm. He wouldn't be able to leave until later that night so Vix just decided to head to Parker Place and catch up with Juice tomorrow.

Jaci was just about to sit down to eat her dinner of macaroni and cheese in front of the television when Vix trailed into the living room. She nodded at her sister. "So today was a long day at school? Are you still struggling with that paper?"

Vix grinned proudly. "No, I was asked to audit a class on Free Will and Philosophical Thought."

"Yeah right." Jaci mumbled through a mouth full of macaroni. She chewed and swallowed. "Well if you don't want to tell me fine. Hey, you want to go see a movie or something? It being Monday night, shouldn't be too crowded. I wanna see that one that just opened about…"

"I went to the movies this afternoon." Vix stated and cut her off.

Jaci slammed her fork into her bowl and scowled. "I knew it! Fuckin' lying bitch!" She exclaimed playfully. "I had to leave work early to meet the code inspectors at YOUR SALON..."

Vix shook her head. "I wasn't lying! I really went, it was at The Empire in Stockton and it was oddly terrific." She looked at Jaci who was casting a curious stare at her. "What?"

"Since when do you go see art films?" Jaci asked. "That's all they show at the Empire."

"I know. I TOLD you… it was for that class. Now do you believe me?"

"Well it certainly tests the theory of FREE WILL, you voluntarily going to see an art film." Jaci shrugged and starting eating again. "Ok, so who in their right mind would have a first year student audit a class?"

"Professor Connor said he was looking for an honest and unique perspective, not just some suck up telling him what they think he wants to hear. I went to the movie and then typed notes during our discussion."

"Your discussion?"

"Yeah over… well it was sorta almost dinner." Vix explained.

"Sorta almost? So what was the film?"

"Kiss Me Deadly."

"Never heard of it… good song though." Jaci replied with a smirk.

Vix smiled and shook her head. "So wait…the inspectors showed up today?"

"Yep…Chibsy wasn't joking about greasing some wheels apparently."

Vix held her breath. "Aaaaaand?"

"Aaaaannnndd…" Jaci mocked but then smiled and gave her sister a thumbs up. "We're good to go. Green light for the grand opening." Vix squealed with happiness.

_**XXX**_

**The Dilemma**

Half Sack paced around the floor of his apartment. He had been lost in thought ever since roaring out of the Teller Morrow lot after his mom had dropped him off from dinner. He kept thinking and analyzing seeing Vix with that other man, Connor. He hadn't liked the conversation he had heard or the way the guy had leered at Vix, laughing and flirty with her.

He bit his thumb nail as he pulled out his cell phone. He called Juice and waited impatiently has the phone rang and rang and finally went to voicemail. Half Sack cleared his throat, "Hey dude, its Sack, I need to talk to you. Call me."

** Be sure to check out who we cast as Mama Sack and Professor Connor, links are in our Family Album at Tig Nation or in the author profile here at FF


	5. Chapter 5Matches and Gasoline

**Walk Away from the Son**

**Parker Sister Saga continues – Season 2 of SoA**

**Chapter 5- Matches & Gasoline**

**By BG and Reaper**

****Oh my sweet lord, this is the chapter that did not want to be written. Oh how we struggled and Juice staged a damn coup… but alas here it is. We hope our struggles were not for naught because just as in "real life"… some shit just has to be worked through. **

**** And as for Juice – it is HARD at best to get a mental picture of him the likes of this … so praise be screen captures… take a peek at the pic of "MAD JUICE" at Tignation in our photo album or on our author profile at FF before you proceed, if you want to share a bit of our inspiration, that is. ****

_**XXX**_

Tig shook his head and swallowed his gulp of beer. "If the IRS comes knockin' on my door, someone's ass is grass, man, is all I'm sayin'."

"And why would that happen?" Juice asked from where he was sitting at the bar with his ever-present lap top.

"Because the woman who hates my fucking guts is doing my damn taxes; wonder if it's too late to call H&R Block?" Tig pondered. "At least they'll go to the audit with me, says so on TV."

"Aww, Tigger… you don't think Jaci would go to court for ya?" Chibs asked with a chuckle.

"Shut the fuck up... having her involved in our taxes is the Mother Load of bad fuckin' ideas, man."

The current tax talks were interrupted as Half Sack wandered in, looking dejected.

"What's the matter Prospect, you look as if you just watched Ol' Yeller go down with the Titanic." Chibs remarked as he turned to look at the Prospect.

"Clay says I ain't got time to go to college." Half Sack answered quietly.

"That sucks dude, but he's sorta right… college is time consuming as hell man. Vix ain't got a spare second." Juice took a drag off his cigarette. "What'd chya want last night anyway? I got your message at like two-thirty this morning."

If possible at all possible, Half Sack suddenly looked ten times worse than before. "Well I um…"

The others stopped what they were doing and listened intently as Kipp dished about seeing Vix at the restaurant with Connor.

The three men stared at him. Chibs eyed him carefully, "Are you sure, Prospect?"

Half sack nodded. "That I saw her- YES. That I heard what I heard ABSOLUTELY… that I missed a bunch of the conversation – YES." He shrugged. "I don't know; what I DID hear left very little to the imagination."

Juice slammed his laptop shut and was flexing his jaw as his anger and shock grew. His voice was tight. "She's mentioned this Connor guy before...this makes sense. Mother Fucker! I KNEW there was something going on!" He pointed a finger at the Prospect. "Tell us _exactly_ what you heard." Juice was already jumping to conclusions in his mind. "This is very fuckin' important, Sack."

Kipp couldn't hide his nervous twitches. He was uncomfortable with having to be the bearer of bad news. He felt like he was betraying the friendship he'd developed with the Parker sisters since they'd arrived in town, but the loyalty and need to protect a future brother outweighed that. He nervously scratched his head, pulled at his plaid shirt and cringed as he informed, "Ok…I definitely heard him say something about fucking him and blowing his two best friends."

"Dude said that in the middle of a restaurant? Loud enough for you to hear in the next booth?" Juice questioned with disgust on his face.

"Yeah...sorry, man. Vix completely laughed it off though."

Juice waved off that comment. "And she was flirtin' back?"

"A little." Half Sack replied, holding his fingers a smidge apart for emphasis.

Tig started to laugh and shook his head. Juice glared at him, not thinking any of the news was funny in the least. Tig blew out a breath and smirked, "Brother…you got PLAYED.

This is the exact fuckin' reason you don't bother having an old lady. They fuckin' stab you in the back!"

"Did Jaci cheat…" Half Sack started to ask with a frown on his face.

"She wasn't my fuckin' old lady, numb nut." Tig corrected with a glare and a pointed finger. "I'm just sayin'…Vix can't spare a second? Seems like she's finding a few for the Professor. Good way to cement an A... maybe an A+ depending on her oral ability."

"Tig!" Chibs warned.

"What? You saw how fuckin' chummy Parker was with those college guy douchebags at the bar that night." He looked to Juice. "Maybe the professor isn't the only one you gotta be worried about."

Chibs sighed, taking in all the accusations but he had to admit it didn't look so good. He shrugged, "It took Jaci all of ten minutes to give number to one of them. And they flocked right to Vix."

Juice slammed his hand down. "Goddamnit! I KNEW there was something going on!"

"None of this makes sense though. Vix is totally into you, dude. Maybe you should call her and talk to her ya know?" Half Sack interjected.

"Why? So she can LIE to 'em?" Chibs asked incredulously. Juice stared at the Scotsman. Chibs shook his head, "Brotha, what do people do when they get caught? They LIE."

"Fuckin' A right!" Tig agreed. He started mocking in a high pitched tone, "Oh, Juice…I swear there's nothing going on…"

"Damn it." Juice hung his head. "You're right, you're right."

Chibs thought for a moment and then added, "Hell, maybe SHE isn't the problem. Maybe the teacher needs to be told to back off."

Tig nodded and adds his two cents. "Either way, the bullshit stops. If there's nothing going on … now he won't pursue. If it IS her, she ain't gonna want a guy with a jacked up face. Your message gets through loud and clear."

_**XXX**_

An hour later, Juice walked out of the clubhouse wearing jeans with a flannel shirt thrown over one of his favorite skull tees and ball cap. Chibs waited for him in black pants and a dark colored hoodie. Chibs took one last drag from his cigarette and nodded at him, "You got his address?"

Juice nodded coldly and replied, "School of Hard Knocks is now in session." Chibs tossed his cigarette butt and they got on their bikes, heading out for the canyon to pay Professor Connor a visit.

_**XXX**_

The next morning:

Vix awoke to the chords of a familiar song blaring out of her clock radio, her hand was about to slap the snooze button when the realization of what today _was_ hit her. She sucked in her breath as Stevie Nicks began singing…

_Well I've run through rainbows and castles of candy_

_And I've cried__ a river of tears from the pain_

_I tried to dance with what life has to hand me_

_My partner's been pleasure… my partner's been pain_

_There are days when I swear I can fly like an eagle_

_And our desperate hours that no__body sees_

_My arms strechted triumphant on top of the mountain_

_Or my head in my hands, __down on my knees_

_Sometimes it's a bitch… sometimes it's a breeze_

_Sometimes love's blind… sometimes it sees_

_Sometimes it's roses… and sometimes it's weeds_

_Sometimes it's a bitch… sometimes it's a breeze_

She shook off the trip down memory lane and flipped the switch, silencing Stevie. She grabbed her cell phone and walked down the hall to the bathroom. As she flipped open the phone, she was saddened but not surprised by the lack of call or message from Juice. She typed a quick text and then tossed her phone on the vanity and pulled her t-shirt over her head. She stepped into the shower, her mind singing the jingle from the commercial for COAST, _Open your eyes with Coast_. She thought to herself, _hope this soap lives up to all the hype, I'm gonna need help keeping my eyes open today._

_**XXX**_

Juice had been so amped up from the prior night that he'd hardly slept and now he found himself trying to parlay his fury into something constructive. He'd been doing odd jobs around TM since an hour before dawn. Currently the radio was blaring as he went about emptying the oil vats. He wasn't consciously listening to Steven Tyler and the boys from Aerosmith sing, but the devil on his shoulder was rocking out to the song…

_You think you're in love _

_Like it's a real sure thing_

_But every time you fall_

_You get yo' ass in a sling_

_You used to be strong_

_But now it's "ooh, baby please"_

'_cause fallin' in love is so hard on the knees_

In his pocket, his cell phone chimed. He wiped his hands and retrieved it. He slid it open and saw that he had a text from Vix. Despite his best efforts not to, he pushed a button and read her message. He turned and whipped the phone against the cinderblock wall sending pieces scattering to the four corners of the garage.

_There ain't gonna be no more beggin' you please_

_You know what I want and it ain't one of these…_

Across the garage someone switched the radio off. Juice turned around to find Chibs standing there. "You get any sleep at all, brother?"

"Not really."Juice mumbled. "But I'm fine." 

"If you say so." Chibs replied with a yawn. "What that phone ever do to you?"

Juice shrugged and Chibs knew the kid was still reeling. "Why don't you and me roll on out to Lumpy's, get some food in us, huh?"

"You go ahead, I'm not really that hungry." Juice said and turned back towards the oil vat. Behind him Chibs shrugged and switched the radio back on as he walked out of the garage.

_I'm Jonesin' on love… _

_Yeah, I got the D.T.s …_

_We say that we will…_

_Yeah, but there ain't no guarantees._

_I majored in Love, but in all minor keys…_

_Cause fallin' in love is so hard on the knees._

Juice sighed and then killed the radio as he walked by. "Hey, dude-wait up!"

_**XXX**_

_A little conversation, a little more action…all this aggravation ain't satisifactioning me." _Elvis sang as Jaci's phone rang. She grinned and answered. "Hello, Mr. Munson."

"Morning, Miss Parker. How's your day goin'?" Bobby asked sweetly.

"Well, considering Piney just dropped off an actual shoebox full of random medical receipts and told me 'good luck, you'll need it', I'm saying my day is shit."

Bobby chuckled. "Yeah…I heard you won the privilege of doing all of our taxes this year."

"You say that like there were actually other candidates."

"Probably not so much. Oh, speaking of, Chibs was going on and on about expecting a huge ass refund just so you know."

"Chibs is going to sorely disappointed." Jaci said as she finished reviewing a credit report at her desk.

"Ha. Well, enough about that shit. Don't know if you've heard through the grapevine, but I got a new gig as head accountant of the porn studio here. Thought it was going to be a piece of cake, but I'm drowning in an explosion of files and bullshit and need some expert assistance. I know your plate is full…"

Jaci groaned. "Bobby, my plate and cup and every other damn thing runneth over right now."

"Sorry…I sorta need the help today. Making sure we're making a profit ASAP is damn high on the SAMCRO priority list." Bobby explained and then added, "Pretty please…with a cherry on top?"

Jaci started looking at her client schedule for the day. If she put off doing some paperwork until tomorrow and lied to the office receptionist saying she was off meeting a client she could cut out of work around 1pm. She relayed the time to Bobby and then hung up. She frowned at her phone, remembering something Tara had mentioned the night before and called the good doctor.

"Hey chick…quick question. You said there was a little showdown at Cara Cara the other day. What was that about?"

Tara blew out a breath. "'I think Bobby's working over there now and Luann didn't like it. Gemma went to talk to Luann and Clay told her to keep her nose out of it, didn't want her hanging around there. Tig was there…asshole stood like an INCH from me. Creepy bastard."

"Well shit." Jaci replied. "Bobby's calling me for help. I'm not looking for an ass chewing from SAMCRO upper management. Believe me; the last place I want to be is at a porn studio!"

"Yeah, well beware of the talent over there too. One of them has her eye on Jax and was ALL in my face. Grade A bitch."

"Which one?" Jaci asked with a frown.

"Skinny blonde named Ima. I don't think THEY like outsiders."

"Mmmph, well I'll be sure to be extra nice to her." Jaci replied sarcastically and Tara wished her luck.

_**XXX**_

_Pick up, come on pick up_ Rachel chanted in her head. On the fourthring, when all hope of reaching Vix in real time was almost lost, she heard her chirp into the phone "Hola, chica." She laughed and added, "What's up, Rach?"

Rachel and Vix had fast become friends, she hated like hell to think she could possibly be gambling that friendship away in revealing to Vix what she had heard and suspected, but then again, would dishonesty and avoidance of fact serve that friendship any better? "Hey girl, you on campus yet?"

Vix scoffed. "Been there and left already. Had Intro to Marketing at ten and just left Business English. Gotta go back in a while for Statistics and Probability." She groaned. "I'm headed to Study Hall as we speak, you wanna meet me there?"

"I can do that." Rachel nodded and shifted her VW in reverse.

"See ya soon." Vix replied and hung up.

_**XXX**_

Jaci made her way over to Cara Cara Studios that afternoon. She parked out front and called Bobby to get him to meet her at the door. He laughed at her and assured her the talent wouldn't bite her and to just come on inside.

She walked through the front door and felt like a fish out of water. She took in the sights; people painting and building sets, girls walking around half naked, huge cameras being rolled around…the whole place was a flurry of activity.

Luann spotted her and walked over. "You look a little lost. What are you doing here?"

"Um…I'm looking for Bobby." Jaci replied with a slight wince.

"Oh I get it, calling in the professional to tear through my shit huh?" Luann rolled her eyes.

"I'm just here to help Bobby get organized. I'm not auditing anything or sticking around longer than I have to." Jaci reassured as she pulled her hair back into a low ponytail.

Luann jerked her head toward an office. "He's in there." She took a closer look at Jaci, dressed in sleek black slacks and a tight light blue dressy t-shirt and cocked her head. "You know…slap some glasses on you and you've got a certain naughty teacher, lawyer kind of vibe going…you ever wanted to make some real money…"

Jaci caught her drift and laughed. "Oh NO WAY! You're talking to the wrong sister, Luann. Vix is the completely extroverted, more likely wannabe porn star. Me…not so much. But thanks for the offer…I think." Jaci headed for the office. She spotted Juice watching a scene being set up but he didn't notice her. She slipped inside the office and shut the door behind her.

_**XXX**_

Rachel walked into Big Daddy's Bar and Grill, removed her sunglasses and let her eyes adjust to the change in lighting. She nodded towards Larry, who was on his normal perch at the end of the bar. "Hey, Last Call."

"Damn you!" Larry mumbled before draining the glass in front of him.

"Nice to see you too." Rachel laughed.

"Oh I am always glad to see you but would be even happier to see you five minutes from now." He held up a $5. "Here, give this to your partner-in-crime." She was just about to take the bill, when he rescinded it. "How did you make such good time with all the road work and construction?"

Rachel grinned. "I'll never reveal my secrets. If I did then every Tom, Dick or LARRY would use them and I'd lose my edge."

Larry chuckled and handed her the money. "We wouldn't want that now would we?" Hee nodded towards the private back room. "You know where to find her."

Rachel took the money and smiled at Corbin, who had suddenly surfaced by the bar. "Hey, Big Daddy. Can I get a bottle of Bud? "

"You may. You want your tried and true onion ring accompaniment?"

Rachel thought of the task at hand. "Nah, not today, just the Bud and another of whatever Vix is drinking."

Corbin chuckled. "That would be a big ol' glass of Southern Sweet Tea, says she needs a clear head for her next class. I told her I don't know how clear her brain will be after the sugar rush."

"That sweet huh?" Rachel asked.

"That crap would put fur on your teeth." Larry mumbled. "Diabetes in a glass."

"MAMACITA!" Vix's voice boomed from the head of the hallway. "How long you been here?"

Rachel held up the five dollar bill. "Long enough!"

Vix smiled. "HA! THAT is the reward for my little experiment in the Relative Frequency of Occurrence theory."

"See what your TEA did, Corb?" Larry said with a shake of his head. "Stick with alcohol, sweetie. The sugar's got ya acting crazy."

Vix laughed and the girls disappeared into the back room. They had no more than sat down in one of the big corner booths when Rachel cleared her throat. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that judging by your demeanor you haven't heard the news round campus?"

"There always seems to be somethin' goin' on. What's the latest cause honestly I am so wrapped up in trying to understand this Statistics and…"

"Connor is in the hospital."

"WHAT? When? What happened?" Vix fired questions with concern in her voice and on her face.

"I've had three classes this morning and I heard damn near the exact same story in all three so it's gotta be solid. And well, you know Johnny Bates? Even he's heard and God bless him but he is so far out of the loop that if HE's heard a rumor it must be true."

Vix nodded. "Ok so spill, what happened?"

"Apparently Connor and his teacher's pet du jour were coming back to his place for a bit of boom-boom when two guys jumped him. Seems to have happened very quickly. Rumor has it he'd gotten out of the car to open the garage because his opener doesn't work and these two guys appeared out of nowhere. Connor and one guy got into a rather intense verbal exchange and the dude started throwing punches. Connor got in a few good lick but then this dude started _wailing_ on Connor, punch after punch after punch. The other guy was apparently acting like a look out. The chick doesn't even think they two guys realized she was inside the car."

Rachel took a breath and continued. "The chick watched the whole thing. After the dude beat Connor to the brink of brain damage, he threatened to come back and cut out Connor's eyes. Then he spit on him and walked away. The other guy, the one on wing man duty, laughed at the battered heap that was Connor and kicked him in the ribs for good measure before following the first dude up the driveway."

Vix's eyes were wide. "Holy fuck! So did they call the cops and shit?"

"After the dudes left, the chick climbed out of the car. Connor was way fucked up, face was a bloody mess, his jaw might have been broken 'cause he couldn't even talk. She called 911, all Connor did was groan and moan and try to shake his head."

"Damn…that's fuckin' awful." Vix said with a shake of her head.

Rachel winced. "That ain't the end of the story. And um, don't know how to make this NOT sound bad so I'm just gonna say it…in all these versions the guys responsible for the beat down were bikers. They left the scene on Harleys."

Vix rolled her eyes. "Stupid assholes. This shit happens all the time, a few dumb asses make a bad name for the rest of us." She noticed the odd look on Rachel's face. "What?"

"Aren't you like deep in the 1-percenter community?"

"Whatever. Besides what does that have to do with…?" Vix sat up straighter. "Hey…I'm not messing with Connor."

Rachel held up a hand."I'm not saying that you are but don't you think it's odd that YOUR professor gets beat down by random bikers?"

"You might really want to watch your dirt slinging. THAT was STRICTLY school related." Vix fired back.

"Does Juice know that? You said yourself Juice has been acting odd and is jealous over every little thing."

"Juice doesn't even know where I went. I haven't had time to even see him since then. I can't believe you would hang this on him." Vix spat and tried to keep her anger in check

Rachel sighed. "I'm sorry sweetie, but I'm not the only one who is going there. Connor was well liked, people are pissed off that this happened. And I'm not a big believer in coincidence but like I said, it is a really fucking HUGE one that Connor happens to bet beat to the brink of brain damage less than a day after you happen to, as innocently school related as it may have been, go to dinner and a movie with the guy. AND the ass whoopin' is seemingly handed out by bikers, a community to which you have ties"

Rachel held up her hand again. "And before you even say that you don't advertise that aspect of your life, I know that. But in the short time that you've been taking classes, Juice has made an appearance on campus a hand full of times. Your quick little meet ups for lunch and that time your lap top wouldn't start up. And we both know how that campus has eyes everywhere. Like I said, everyone is pointing the finger everywhere and sure as shit someone is gonna recall that you're dating a guy who rides a Harley."

She stopped talking for a moment and watched Vix's face. "Look no one wants ME to be fuller of shit regarding all of this than MYSELF. But what kind of friend would I be if I didn't at least let you know? "

_**XXX**_

Bobby was seated at a desk completely covered by papers and boxes. He grinned up at Jaci and waved his good arm around, "Welcome to Complete Disarray! Just jump in anywhere."

Jaci grimaced and sat her car keys down on the window ledge. She milled around the small office, poked around in various boxes and leafed through piles of paper. "My OCD does NOT like this. If I start twitchin', pay me no mind." She frowned at Bobby, "What kind of system was she using?"

"I believe she went with the ever popular Chaos system of Accountancy." Bobby teased.

"No shit." Jaci muttered.

For the next hour, the pair sorted and tried to organize all the mess into some semblance of order. Bobby had done a pretty good the day before but having another set of eyes on the files was a huge help. Jaci rolled her shoulders and announced that she needed some caffeine. "They have a Coke machine in this place?"

He nodded. "Got all sorts of shit in the break room down the hall. Help yourself."

Jaci headed out in search of something to pep her up and returned fifteen minutes later. Bobby cocked his head. "You get lost?" She shook her head and smiled as she sat down. He rolled his eyes, "Go ahead I know you're just dying to do it, make your bitchy comment about the porn stars."

"I don't really have one." She shrugged. "Luann must have told someone I was an accountant 'cause a chick just cornered me in the break room to ask if anal beads, stiletto heels and ass-less chaps can be deducted as WORK EXPENSES." Bobby busted out laughing, especially since Jaci looked a bit weirded out by the conversation. She shook her head. "I was just thinking if I could put MY brain into that chick's body, I could take over the world." She laughed and cracked open her can of Red Bull, muttering, "I would kill for a body like that."

Bobby looked at her over his glasses. "Um, you obviously haven't noticed but you DO have a body like that. Well minus the freakazoid porn size Triple E knockers. But those would look weird on you." He held his hands up to his chest. "Ya know, too top-heavy and all outta proportion and shit."

"Thanks, Bob." Jaci smirked and took a drink of her energy drink. She rubbed her forehand with the palm of her hand; as was the norm lately, she had a headache. Too much work and worry and not enough sleep. The last couple months of Abel's hospital stay, a new job, Vix's illness, Nord drama, being with Tig, being broken up from Tig, buying the salon, Vix's schooling, being pulled in every direction for favors…everything had happened too quickly. Separately, the events would have been hard but with them all in a row Jaci spent most of her time feeling like a giant was standing on top of her shoulders. "I need a vacation really soon or I'm gonna end up choking somebody."

Since he got back into town from his little two month Federal vacation, Bobby had noticed Jaci seemed a bit edgy even verging on bitchy sometimes. He waggled at finger at her. "You got a lot of anger. You still boxing with the Prospect?"

Jaci scoffed. "No who has TIME for that?"

"Find some time; you need to blow off some steam."

"Tried that…went to shoot some pool at a bar…ended up in a screaming match, remember?" Jaci mused, "According to Vix, I just need a really HUGE bag of weed."

Bobby grinned and held up a finger. "I can make that happen." He opened the desk drawer and pulled out a joint. He held it out to her and waggled it playfully.

She shook her head. "No can do. I stay clear of anything smoked, snorted or shot. Family's too prone. I'll just hit the bottle a little harder tonight."

"Not too prone to alcohol?" Bobby asked.

"At least it's legal." Jaci retorted. She knocked back the rest of her energy drink and stood up. "Enough bitchin…back to work."

She walked to the stack of files she had been rummaging through and making notes about. She frowned and scanned around her work area. "Shit…I lost my pen." She shuffled some more papers as Bobby tossed a cheap Bic her way. She caught it but had no intentions of using it. As a self proclaimed nerd, she was VERY particular about her pens and had brought one from her office for this very occasion and she _would_ find it. There would be no work until then. "Maybe I had it in the break room. Be right back."

Jaci walked quickly to the break room and found a few girls hanging out there. She scanned the counter tops and her eyes landed on her pen…in the hand of one of the girls. She stepped closer and watched the skinny blonde doodling on a napkin just as one of the other girls asked, "Hey Ima, what are you wearing to the wrap party tonight?"

The name instantly clicked in Jaci's head. Ima…this was the chick that had gotten in Tara's face. Jaci plastered a fake smile on her face. "Oh great…you found my pen!"

Ima turned her head and snorted at Jaci as if she was total scum. "My pen now…we have a finder's keeper's policy around here."

The instant disrespect, cocky attitude and smirk from Ima went all over Jaci. She hadn't wanted to be stuck this hell hole of a place all afternoon and she was all out of patience especially with a skank who had already started shit with her quasi sister in law. Her temper flared. Ima looked like a stuck up bitch that was very used to just pouting and throwing a tantrum in order to get her way in life and Jaci hated her on general principle.

With a lightening quick movement, Jaci yanked the pen free from Ima's hand. "FYI-your little policies don't apply to MY shit."

"I was using that!" Ima hissed.

Jaci frowned at her and decided to drop the passive aggressiveness and just be blunt. "You fuck for a living, what the hell do you need a pen for?"

Ima dipped her head from side to side. "To sign my five digit paychecks every month. But you wouldn't know anything about making that much money would you, honey?"

Jaci shook her head in mock sadness. "Nope… same way I don't know anything about having trains ran on me or having stray objects rammed up my ass. Guess you're the expert on all of it. Congratulations!" She smirked and tossed the cheap pen to Ima. "There ya go…for all those huge paychecks. Jaci went to stroll out of the break room and stopped at the door. "Oh and Ima? My brother in law, Jax? Keep your hands off him."

**XXX**

Vix leaned against her car in Big Daddy's parking lot. She was supposed to be heading back to school for her last class of the day but she couldn't seem to make herself budge. After hearing about Connor's beat down from Rachel, she had tried to call Juice to feel him out about the incident but her call had went straight to voicemail. She had waited for a few more minutes, smoking and pacing and then tried to call him again. This time her call was obviously rejected, it jumped to voice mail after only one ring. Vix frowned at the phone, pissed that he was ignoring her. The message prompt beeped and she seethed, "Hey what's with the cold shoulder? Been trying to talk to you for at least a day and a half. Now who's neglecting who?"

She punched the END button on her phone and yanked opened her car door. Screw school, she was going to Teller Morrow to find Juice. He's supposedly off beating down her professor and now he wouldn't take her calls? Something was very wrong.

Vix made it to Charming in record time and had spent the entire time mulling over the last few days in her head along with all the junk Rachel had told her. She didn't want to believe that Juice had had anything to do with Connor's attack but his lack of contact with her was not making her feel warm and fuzzy about the situation. She roared into the TM lot and swung her car into a parking spot. She jumped out of the car and looked around, not seeing Juice's bike. She started walking toward the garage.

Tig spotted Vix as soon as she pulled onto the lot. He tossed the wrench he was using, wiped his hands on a shop towel, and narrowed his eyes has he walked out to meet her.

"What the fuck are you doin' here?" Tig growled with annoyance.

"Where's Juice?" Vix asked. She ignored his attitude; he was perpetually rude to her since his breakup with Jaci.

"Not here." Tig replied vaguely.

Vix gritted her teeth. "I can see that. Where is he?"

Tig looked at her with complete distain. "Not your fuckin' concern anymore."

Vix frowned. Tig was being more hostile than usual, it was very clear that something was up. She didn't want to believe it, but maybe Rachel's rumors had been right. She swallowed hard and asked Tig point blank, "What did he fuckin' do?"

"He did what he fuckin' HAD to do…what you PUSHED him to do." Tig spat back. "Did you really think he'd let you punk him out like that?"

Her stomach dropped at Tig's blunt words…she knew it was all true. In some sort of freak jealous rage, Juice had beat the shit out of her professor. Her worry morphed into anger in a second. "Where the fuck is he? Tell me!"

"At the porn studio." Tig blurted out without fully thinking his response out. He had wanted to hurt Vix by telling her Juice was hanging out with porn stars but instead he just gave her anger a target.

She turned on her heel and rushed back to her car. She fired up the engine and squalled tires as she peeled out of the parking lot.

Tig watched Vix leave and his shoulders slumped. "Goddamnit…here we go again." He looked back at Kipp who was watching the scene from deep in the garage. Tig let out a loud whistle and pointed at him. "Let's go, Prospect!"'

_**XXX**_

After another hour of working, Jaci frowned at the ledger file she was holding. She was sitting on the floor, surrounded by files and quickly crawled to her feet. "Bobby?"

"Mmmhmm?" He replied from his position of being hunched over the laptop at the desk.

She pointed to the line item on the ledger and looked at him cautiously. "I think we might have a little problem."

Thirty more minutes of digging verified that they did in fact have a problem…a very big problem. Luann had been keeping two sets of books and had been apparently skimming profits for years.

"Shit." Bobby spat as he slammed the laptop shut. "Fuckin' sneaky bitch. What the hell am I supposed to do about this shit?"

Jaci sat on the corner of the desk and winced. Skimming money from an MC enterprise was a very big, serious, dangerous no no and she already wished she hadn't been there to find the fraud. She stood and shrugged. "I'm gonna quote a little Pulp Fiction here…I'm Paul and this is between ya'll. Honestly, Bobby…I'm not saying shit to ANYONE about this. You handle it however you think is best. Anybody asks me, I'll play dumb as a rock."

"Yeah?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah…absolutely. I didn't see shit." Jaci assured and Bobby nodded. "Cool for me to hit the road?"

"Yeah, get out of here. Thanks." Bobby replied as a sudden influx of noise was heard from outside the office, it sounded like muffled yelling.

The pair frowned at each other and Jaci opened the office door.

**XXX**

Vix was seething with rage by the time she drove the seven miles out of town to the Cara Cara studios. How could Juice be so stupid? How could he believe that she would cheat on him? She slammed the car into park and bailed out without even shutting her door. She stalked up to the entrance of the building but didn't go inside. She spotted a stack of two by fours left over from the building's construction. She grabbed one and heaved it into the front door. After a moment or two, nothing had happened so she grabbed another piece of wood and started hitting the side of the building with it. That finally got someone's attention.

A heavily made up Barbie doll looking woman stuck her head out from the front door. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Is Juice in there? Biker, Mohawk, head tats?" Vix yelled. "Tell him to get his ass out here NOW!"

The girl rushed inside and nearly crashed into Juice, Chibs who were going to earn their keep as studio bodyguards and were headed to check out the noises outside. The girl waved her hands around wildly. "There's some funky blonde crazy chick out there screaming for you, Juice."

Juice and Chibs exchanged a look. Chibs cocked an eye brow. "I knew she was gonna find out but shite, man. That rumor broke the damn land/speed record."

Juice rolled and cracked his neck."Yeah well… when you got the inside track to the douchebag's whereabouts, shit ain't got to flow all the way down the hill."

Luann rushed over from looking outside and snapped. "Vix is losing her shit in my goddamn parking lot. You gotta do something! We had enough of a Jerry Springer show here the other day!"

"Yeah and who started THAT?" Chibs retorted with a roll of his eyes.

Luann scoffed and held up her hand. "Just deal with the Psycho Parker sister." She stormed off muttering, "Shit never changes around here I swear to God."

Bobby and Jaci had walked into the main studio area just in time to see Luann talking to the guys and then the guys storming outside. Jaci frowned. "What's up?"

"Dunno." Bobby said started toward the front door. He held out a hand toward her. "Stay put for a sec." She nodded and watched cautiously.

_**XXX**_

Chibs pulled his sunglasses down from his forehead on over his eyes as he stepped outside. He smirked at Vix who was about to heave another two by four toward the building. "We have a door ya know."

"I'm not walking into WHORE LAND!" Vix yelled as she dropped the section of wood.

"Why not? You could probably run for mayor." Juice quipped sarcastically.

Vix jabbed a finger in Juice's direction. "What did you do, Juice? Did you beat down Connor?"

"Is that his name? Sorta hard to introduce yourself with a broken jaw I guess." Juice spat back with an evil grin.

Bobby stepped outside and saw Juice and Vix squared off in front of each other. _Oh shit. _His eyes went wide and he ducked his head back inside the studio. "Uh, J…you might want to come here."

Jaci rushed to the door and was shocked to see the heated argument between her sister and Juice. Bobby and her walked around the back of Juice and stood to the side. "Whoa! What the hell is going on?" Bobby just shrugged as the others ignored her question.

She didn't get a chance to ask any more questions as Tig and Half Sack roared into the parking lot on their Harleys. They had gotten caught at a stop light and had fallen behind in trying to catch up to Vix. Jaci's head was on a swivel, switching from the developing screaming match in front of her to the guys walking up.

Tig was off his bike in an instant with Half Sack trailing slowly behind him. He spotted Jaci as he slammed his helmet onto a handlebar. He cut a path directly towards her, completely ignoring Juice and Vix for the moment. "Why the hell are you here?You two move in a fuckin' pack?" He pointed to Jaci and yelled, "What the fuck did I tell you? I said to stay the fuck away…"

Bobby threw his hands up and stepped in front of Tig, blocking him from getting to Jaci. "Whoa whoa whoa! I called her. The files here were a damn mess. I needed help. You're the one that has a problem with her, the rest of us still like her just fine!"

Tig nodded. "Yeah I bet you do."

"Oh don't even go there asshole!" Bobby snapped.

Kipp walked over to stand next to Chibs. The Prospect glanced with wide eyes as World War III broke out around him. Juice and Vix were in each other's faces, Tig was yelling at both Bobby and Jaci. _Oh this is NOT good, really not good._

Jaci had had enough of Tig's attack on her and his stupid rules of where she could and could not go. Her adrenaline was starting to pump from all the craziness of the moment. She looked around from behind Bobby, feeling brave. She leveled her eyes on her ex. "'Fuck you, Tig. Don't even talk to me. The goddamn world doesn't revolve around you."

"Fuck YOU, bitch." Tig hissed as Jaci skirted past him and headed toward her sister to get to the heart of the argument going on a few feet away.

Subconsciously everyone had chosen their side in the fight. Jaci stood next to Vix, the guys all stood directly behind Juice, except for Bobby who stood off to the side by himself.

"This is crazy!" Vix exclaimed.

Juice shook his head. "No it's not- I don't like people taking what's MINE."

Vix frowned. "Take? What? No one took anything! It was dinner and a movie and it was school related. This jealousy shit is UNFOUNDED! I didn't do… "

"Yeah, suddenly EVERYTHING is school related." Juice smirked. "Bet if he knocks you up it'll be a worker's comp claim for him."

Juice faced Vix. "It all makes perfect fucking sense now." He mocked her in a feminine voice. '_I've got class, I can't come over, I've gotta study, see ya tomorrow'_." He switched back to his voice, which was angrier than anyone there had ever heard it. "Blah blah blah BULLSHIT! It was ALL bullshit! You were dodging' me so you could fuck your goddamn teacher. Who needs to study when you're suckin dick for an A?"

Jaci and Bobby listened to Juice's accusation with shock. They shot a look to each other. Bobby raised an eyebrow as if to ask _did she do that?_ Jaci frowned and shook her head slightly as if to answer _no way! _Internally, Jaci held the tiniest bit of doubt about her little sister's innocence, knowing Vix's past tendencies with guys. But for now, she would have Vix's back completely. They would worry about the details later.

"Well go try fuckin' him now! He ain't so pretty anymore!" Juice yelled at Vix. Tig and Chibs laughed the mental picture of Connor's bruised and broken face.

Vix screamed, "I DIDN"T FUCK HIM!"

"I heard VERY differently." Juice hissed.

"From who?"

Juice sorta glanced in Half Sack's direction. "He SAW you with him!" Vix followed his gaze and suddenly everyone was looking at the Prospect.

Half Sack started fumbling. "It looked real bad, Vix… you at dinner with him. I heard a lot of the conversation and…"

Vix threw her hands up. "AND? AND NOTHING! You don't know shit! What the fuck did you hear that made you come running to him?"

"Don't answer that!" Juice snapped at Half Sack. "Heard it once already, don't want to hear it again. Doesn't matter."

"The fuck it don't! Whatever he said made you and your boys beat down an innocent guy to the brink of brain damage! And you didn't even have the common sense to ASK ME!" Vix screamed.

"Why…so you could LIE to me some more?" Juice spat, Chibs nodded along, recognizing his own words coming from his friend.

Jaci decided it was time to stop the arguing and accusations. Her head was spinning with all the back and forth. It was all just chaos, no one was listening, everyone was just screaming. She pushed in between Juice and Vix and started pushing her sister gently backwards. She leaned in close to Vix and said evenly, "Vix, calm down. You're making yourself look crazy at this point. Let's just…"

Vix cut her sister's plea off. "Oh ya'll ain't seen crazy yet!'

Jaci hissed and continued to walk her sister backwards. "Trust me; we're getting there REAL damn fast. CALM DOWN." 

Tig glared at Jaci trying to talk Vix down. He looked the sisters up and down. Jaci was dressed for work, Vix sported tight jeans, a vintage Wonder Woman baby doll tee, a chunky black belt with a big ol' belt buckle that said 'COCKY' and she was wearing old school shell-toed Addias sneakers so white and shiny they rivaled Jax's for newness looking. Tig called out, "Nice belt buckle, Parker. Cocky hmm? Still feelin' that way now that you're busted? Maybe you need one says WHORE."

Jaci glanced over her shoulder in Tig's direction for a half second. "Can it with the whore shit! You don't know what the fuck you are talking about." 

"Whatever, you're just as bad as she is!" Tig laughed. "I saw you with those college boys. You're probably running through half your office too! You give it up to Rosen yet?"

Vix and Juice started yelling at each other again as Jaci turned her complete attention to Tig. She leveled a finger at him. "I'm 1000% SINGLE. I can do WHATever and WHOever the fuck I want! You have yourself to thank for that so don't bitch about it now!" She glared at him for a moment then went back to trying to get Vix under control. "Vix, please…let's just go. Let everybody calm down…"

"Hey, you probably helped her didn't ya, J?" Juice shoved at Jaci's back with his fingertips."Huh? Did you help her sneak around on me?" He shoved her a bit harder.

Jaci's frustration level was peaking. Her head was throbbing as she kept one hand on Vix's collarbone and half turned, pushing Juice's hand off of her back. She hissed, "Get your hands off me. And fuck you... I help her do anything. But you know what…you're pointing the finger so hard at her, what about YOU? Who are you fuckin'? I know for a fact your boys would set that shit up. Chibs has a goddamn directory, fuckin' SAMCRO pimp."

"Prime stock in our stables." Chibs called out with a chuckle.

"Oh my god, will everyone shut the fuck up?" Bobby said with a shake of his head.

"Sometimes the truth is hard to hear." Tig mused with a smirk.

"Truth? What the fuck would you know about that?" Jaci asked as she craned her head to look at him. "_You're_ completelyfull of shit."

"And you're a frigid bitch." Tig shot back. Since he had stepped foot on the parking lot, he was completely caught up with the frenzy of the moment and couldn't stop the rude shit from pouring out of his mouth. Being ruthlessly mean came so easy to him.

Jaci stood stunned by Tig's harsh words. Her mouth dropped open for a second and she couldn't even think of a good comeback. After everything they had been through, that was how he saw her? What kind of sense did that make? She settled for just shaking her head and focusing again on Vix.

Juice glared at Vix. "Is your little friend Rachel helpin' you too?"

"Juice, just stop it. You guys are getting nowhere with this." Jaci pleaded.

She was doing too good of a job of pushing Vix further down the parking lot and Juice was tired of her interfering. "I'm not talking to YOU!" He yelled and shoved Jaci so hard that she actually slammed into Vix.

Bobby took a step toward Juice. "Juice…fuckin' cool it!" Jaci stepped to the side of Vix and looked back at Bobby, wondering how the hell to stop the madness that was quickly picking up steam.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!" Vix screamed as she took two steps and shoved Juice in the chest with both of her hands as hard as she could.

Juice half stumbled back a step and immediately threw up his left hand back in reaction…right into Vix's face. The rings on his hand connected with her cheek in what amounted to a backhanded slap that was damn near heard around the world.

Silence suddenly blanketed the parking lot as everyone stood perfectly still. It was as if time just froze for a few moments. The Prospect hands moved from his mouth to the top of his head, the grin on Chib's face fell flat, Jaci's mouth fell open for the second time and Tig's eyebrows shot up in morbid amusement. Vix frowned and tentatively touched her cheek.

"Goddamnit, Juice!" Bobby exclaimed and started toward the Parkers.

Juice held his hands out, realizing what he had done. He started sputtering regrets. "Oh shit. Vix, I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…"

Vix glared at him, finally finding her voice. "Fuck you."

"Come on, Vix." Bobby reached out toward Vix, trying to soothe her.

Vix waved Bobby off and stared walking backwards, shaking her head. "Nah, you know what? Fuck this shit, man. I was found guilty without even being questioned. Y'all jumped to crazy conclusions and decided to mark me a liar. Pretty much slapped a big ol' Scarlet Letter right here." She slapped her chest with both hands. "Then you go kick the shit outta an innocent guy. I'll probably get kicked the fuck outta school if they can tie me to that. But that may have been your goal, right?"

She glared at Juice. "If you weren't gonna be supportive why'd you even go along with it in the first fuckin' place? You may have found your niche in life and that's cool. You're in the MC and a mechanic and I had NO qualms with that. I didn't realize ME finding MINE would lead to such shit. You are so fuckin' paranoid about me bettering myself and thinkin' that I am gonna wake up and want more than you and this town have to offer. Well here's some irony for ya… you may be the one who opened my damn eyes to that because I've had my fill of this shit!"

Juice listened to Vix's rant and felt his adrenaline start to kick up again. He wanted her to STOP yelling and let him apologize but here she was screaming again. All of a sudden, he didn't feel so confident in the choices he had made and embarrassment flooded over him. But the bad decisions didn't stop. Instead of begging for understanding, he thought about the guys standing behind him and how he must look like a fool and he yelled back to try and save face. "We ain't got to worry about that any more… there ain't no more WE. I don't date whores!"

Vix spat back, "Well there ya go then!"

Bobby finally decided to shut the drama down. "FUCKING STOP IT! EVERYONE calm the FUCK down!" He didn't often get so riled up and everyone took notice. He pointed to Juice, "Back off! Quit being an asshole!" He pointed to Jaci, "J, get your sister the hell out of here."

Jaci nodded and took Vix gently by the hand. "Come on, you've said your piece. Let's go. It's over." Vix went without a fight, she was all fought out. After a few steps though, she turned and yelled at Juice. "Oh and thanks for the goodbye souvenir, asshole!" She pointed to the bleeding cut on her cheek and turned back around and walked along next to her sister.

Tig couldn't resist a parting shot. "Fuckin right, it's over! Pack your shit and get the fuck out of our town! The BOTH of you!"

Jaci looked back and saw Tig laughing and slapping Juice on the shoulder, as if to congratulate him on his horribly stupid behavior. "FUCK YOU, TIG!" She yelled.

Juice and Jaci locked eyes for a second and she pointed a finger at him. "HE shouldn't be your role model, Juice! For anyfuckingthing! But I guess you're gonna learn that the hard way!"

"I can't drive, J." Vix whispered as Jaci put her hand on her back. Jaci noticed the complete look of devastation now blooming on Vix's face and just nodded her understanding. She didn't miss a beat and opened her passenger side door for Vix, as if that was their escape plan all along. Her little sister climbed inside and slammed the door shut.

"Bobby? Can you drop the Charger at our place later?" Jaci called out to the only Son remotely on her side. "You're the only one here she…WE… trust. Keys are in it." Bobby nodded.

_**XXX**_

Jaci jammed her key into the ignition with a shaking hand and then sped out of the parking lot and hung a right, headed back toward Charming. She shifted gears with force and shook her head trying to comprehend what the hell had just taken place. She was shocked that the guys could seemingly turn on them so easily. She expected shit from Tig but to have Chibs and Kipp siding with him was just crazy. And Juice! What the fuck had happened to Juice? Normally he was like a cute, retarded puppy but somehow he had grown into a foaming at the mouth crazed Pit Bull.

"What the fuck was that, Vix?" She asked and glanced over at her sister. Vix had her arms crossed over her chest and just stared straight down the road, not even answering the question.

Jaci swallowed hard and blink her eyes as she tried to suck in a deep breath. The top of her head felt tight and there was a pain shooting through that felt like someone had rammed a knife in her skull. Her biceps felt weird as well, they weren't really hurting but something didn't feel _right. _She tried to just focus on driving and pushed the car into the next curve.

"Pull over." Vix said quietly.

"What?"

"Pull over…I'm gonna be sick."

She didn't want to just pull over on the side of the road, leaving Vix to the ditch, so she wheeled into the next parking which happened to belong to the high school football stadium. Just has the car stopped, Vix flung the door open and hurled several glasses of sweet tea onto the pavement.

Vix stumbled out of the car and over to a cement parking bump, where she sat down. As Jaci came around the back of the car, Vix pointed a shaky finger and grimaced, "I might have hit your car a little."

Jaci waved her off. "I've changed your diapers, chick. This is nothing." She sat down beside her younger sister and wrapped an arm over her shoulder, squeezing her just a bit. "You ok?"

Vix hung her head and took some deep breaths but nodded. "Just need a minute."

"Take all the time you need." Jaci replied. She could use a few minutes herself, her headache wasn't letting go and she was beginning to get a bit worried about her arms feeling so weird.

XXX

"Holy fuck. What did I do?" Juice asked as he paced wildly in Bobby's office inside Cara Cara. All of the guys had crammed in there after the Parkers had fled the scene.

Half Sack blurted out an answer to Juice's obviously rhetorical question. "You back handed Vix across the face and almost knocked her on her ass." He gave a worried and sick look to Juice.

Juice shook his head. "I didn't see her. I swear to fuck didn't. I. .. I just reacted. I flung my arm and …"

"You don't have to explain SHIT." Tig said as he stepped in front of Juice to stop the kid from pacing. "Someone gets in your face and pushes your buttons; its goddamn instinct is to shove back. Besides the bitch deserved it; she needed knocked down a few pegs." Tig jabbed a finger at Juice to make his point. "Step up like a man… get knocked down like one."

"TIG!" Bobby hollered. "He don't need any lessons in being an asshole. He's held top ranking in that class for a while now." He shook his head in disgust as Juice glared at him "And congratulations, Juice- you just aced the final exam."

_**XXX**_

Vix finally felt alright to ride and the girls loaded back up into the car and headed for home. "You know what song I woke up to this morning and then have heard NO LESS than three times today?"

Jaci shook her head, not even wanting to guess, but given what just went down with Juice, she decided to let Vix ramble. "Not a clue."

"Sometimes It's a Bitch." Vix answered.

Jaci groaned. "Oh christ, Vix please tell me you are not gonna make some parallel and say Mama was communicating with ya from the goddamn grave."

"Well don't you just think it is odd that I heard THAT song THREE times on THIS VERY DAY. You know what today is… I was half tempted not to get outta bed this morning. Maybe I'd be better off if I hadn't."

Jaci pulled the car over yet again. This had to be the longest seven mile drive in history. "Listen to me, I know today is the eighteen year anniversary of Mama being gone, but just because you heard to song that she played no less than NINE THOUSAND times in the days leading up to her death, it does not mean that…"

Vix cut her sister off midsentence. "I know her and Daddy were gonna bust up, right? Maybe not back then, I didn't cause I was seven years old but NOW? Shit yeah... the headless horseman coulda seen it coming and he aint' got no head or eyes, J"

Jaci just rubbed her forehead. "Ok, for arguments sake we go with your crazy communing with Mama theory. What exactly would she have been trying to tell you?"

She looked out the window and a ramble of her own tumbled out. "I'm not convinced they woulda stuck it out either had she not died. BUT IF THEY BUSTED UP it would have been HER fault. She sprinkled the poison with the drugs and the booze. And IF we are calling spades by their names… she was a bit of a whore. I know she's my mama and I am thankful that she gave me life… and she gave me you and Wendy cause thru her we got Abel. BUT that is about damn it. She did a shit job at mothering when she was alive, Vix. I find it really hard to believe that she got her crap together enough to be a wealth of help on the other side."

Vix sniffled. "I'mnever gonna survive this Crazy Town. It eats people up and spits them out. I thought I was tougher than all of this..."

"You are, sweetie. You don't know how strong you are, ok?" Jaci soothed. "You helped me thru the worst of my shit and so it goes that I will help you. And if it makes you feel any better. I'm not completely convinced that there is nothing left to salvage from the Wreck of Vix and Juice. I know shit just got really crazy but if you just take some time…"

At the sound of his name, Vix started to cry which was a damn unsettling sight. "I think you can stick a fork in us; we're done."

Jaci shook her head and figured her need to get Vix home in a hurry if the waterworks were starting. Hysterically crying was done best alone in your own bedroom…Jaci knew about that first hand. She turned the car back on and both girls stared at the radio as Stevie Nick's voice streamed thru the speakers.

_Sometimes it's a bitch_

_Sometimes it's a breeze_

_Sometimes love's blind_

_and sometimes it sees_

_Sometimes its roses_

_and sometimes its weeds_

_Sometimes the picture just ain't what it seems_

_You get what you want but it's not what you need_

_Sometimes it's a bitch_

_Sometimes it's a breeze_

Vix gaped at the dashboard, taking big gulps of air. Jaci reached over and hit a preset for another station. Both felt goose bumps rise on their skin.

To Be Continued…


	6. Chapter 6 Ex Factor

**Walk Away from the Son**

**Parker Sister Saga continues – Season 2 of SoA**

**Chapter 6- The Ex-Factor**

**By BG and Reaper**

**~We just wanted to thank you all for your truly wonderful reviews. Being that BG posted the last chapter on a holiday we were pleasantly surprised and extremely overjoyed at your instant reading and in-depth reviews. And never fear The Parker girls are resilient – it's in their genes. **

_I can be so mean when I wanna be  
I am capable of really anything  
I can cut you into pieces  
But my heart is broken_

How did I become so obnoxious?  
What is it with you that makes me act like this?  
I've never been this nasty

Can't you tell that this is all just a contest?  
The one that wins will be the one that hits the hardest  
But baby I don't mean it  
I mean it, I promise  
- Please Don't Leave, Pink

_**XXX**_

At the sound of the doorbell, Jaci got up from where she was eating a quick lunch before heading back to the office. She pulled open the front door and found herself face to face with Rachel. Vix's friend was dressed in a t-shirt that read: _Don't Be Jealous, Not Everyone Can Be Me, _and skinny jeans. Her dark hair was HUGE today; she'd rival any _Jersey Girl_ for the Big Hair award. "How's Vix?"

Jaci shrugged. "She's still breathing... this I know because I paused by her door a few minutes ago and heard sniffling." It was then that she noticed the picnic basket in Rachel's hand. "Not sure she's in the mood for a picnic. I couldn't even get her to eat breakfast."

Rachel nodded as she entered the house. "I've had my heart broke more than once, food don't help, trust me." She pulled open the lid to the basket to reveal two bottles of chilled Patron, four glasses, some lime wedges and a salt shaker. "I come bearing a basket of tequila and I got a few Zoloft in my purse. I'm so sorry I was right... I didn't want to be."

"Been there man, you don't know how many times I've wished I was wrong! And more than a few times I'd wished I'd never brought it up." Jaci muttered. "You're a good friend Rach…for letting her know and for bringing her tequila."

From behind them they heard Vix's voice, all raw from hours of sobbing, as she made her way up the hall. "Who's at the door?" She entered the living room wearing sweatpants, an old football jersey and Grinch slippers. The look of disappointment was as evident on her face as the streaks of mascara. Her cheek was puffy and the skin around the cut was tinged with violet. "Oh hey, Rach. I'm not really in the mood for company." She turned and walked back down the hall softly closing her bedroom door behind her, crushed by the fact that it wasn't Juice.

Rachel stared at Jaci. "What happened to her face?"

Jaci grimaced but told the truth. "Things got extremely heated, everybody was in everybody else's face, shoving ensued and Vix caught a backhand."

Rachel raised her eyebrows, "From whom?"

"Juice." Jaci replied with a wince. "And while I DO NOT, WILL NOT dismiss the behavior, I don't think the end result would have been so bad except for all those rings he wears. It was all a thousand percent accidental, I am pretty sure, but that still doesn't change .." Her explanation was cut short by the familiar low rumble of Vix's Charger pulling into the driveway.

Jaci headed for the front door again and stepped out on the porch as Bobby brought the car to a stop.

Bobby lumbered out from behind the wheel and nodded. "Hello ladies."

Rachel nodded a hello before glancing down at her buzzing phone and excusing herself to answer it. Jaci just stood rooted with hands on her hips, staring at him.

"Special Delivery…one totally awesome muscle car. Man, if there was 100 pounds LESS of ME and I were a bit more buff and way more vain…I'd get me one of those." He tossed the keys at Jaci, "As it is, I may have broken the damn driver's seat trying to squeeze behind the wheel. So, how are things?"

"How do you think they are?"

"I'm guessin' not so good?" Bobby replied.

"You're good at the guessing game. Can you guess what Vix is doing right now?"

Bobby looked skyward for a moment. "Um, partially cryin' ... partially plotting wickedly painful revenge and probably picking apart the last few days tryin' to pinpoint where shit went wrong. Am I close?"

She nodded. "I'd say within a block or two... but you forgot waitin' on an apology."

Bobby made a 'yikes' face. "Yeah… well that may be a long wait at the wrong gate I'm sorry to report. SAMCRO's resident retard is currently under the tutelage of Tig and YOU don't need ME to tell ya how that curriculum goes." Bobby waved a hand toward the driveway. "Anyway, sorry I didn't get the car back yesterday. The movie they were filming at Cara Cara wrapped."

Jaci frowned, "What's that got to do with you?"

"Well, apparently its cause for a party." He answered with a smile.

Jaci shook her head and tried not to groan…_Jesus Christ, a party at a porn studio_. "Hey, I know I'm playing stupid on the whole Luann thing, but….I just wanted to know if this is gonna come back and bite me in the ass. Just how stupid am I gonna have to play?"

"No worries. I got it handled. Nobody's gonna ask you shit." Bobby replied with a smile, thinking back to his new found arrangement with Luann. She'd stop skimming and start pleasing and any past grievances would be forgiven.

The alarm clock on her phone buzzed and Jaci groaned. "Is it wrong that I look forward to going back to work? Less stress and drama there than at home."

Rachel wandered back over and eyed Bobby but decided to ask Jaci her question anyway. "Hey you mind if I hang out here? I think I am being evicted today and I'd rather not be there when it happens."

Bobby and Jaci both stared at the chick, startled. She managed to answer though. "You're seriously being evicted? Holy shit!"

Rachel nodded. "And before you ask, I pay my rent but apparently being the drunk loser my building owner is, he drinks all his money and then ain't got any none left over to BUY what his personality won't let him get. So, he ain't all that pleased that the lid on my um, _honeypot_ is firmly locked when it comes to the likes of him. Now, he's apparently found some bogus way that I am in violation of my lease."

"Sounds like somebody ought to VIOLATE him." Bobby shook his head.

"Amen to that." Rachel said. "My neighbor said the sheriff was there was in eviction decree. Well at least they'll do the packing for me." She added with a wry laugh.

Jaci and Bobby exchanged a glance and then she said, "Yeah I got no problem with you hanging out here. Hell stay a few days if you need to, might be good not to leave Vix to her own devices right now." She pointed toward her Mustang. "You need a lift, Bob?" The pair headed off and Rachel went back inside.

XXX

Across town at Bryony Garden Apartments:

With a shaky hand, Ruby hung the phone in its cradle. She fiddled with its long coiled cord and gathered her thoughts before turning around. Behind her, Milly and Sadie were busy putting the finishing touches on the gift basket that the Ladies Auxiliary of St. Barnibus was contributing to the Tricky Tray raffle.

"So did Margie mention if she was still assisting with the bake sal..." Milly asked turning from the counter. The sight of her dear friend's slumped shoulders had caused her to stop mid word. "Ruby, what is it?"

Ruby shook her head. "You know how Margie Sinclair loves to run her gums."

Milly nodded. "If gossiping were an Olympic Sport that woman would have several gold medals. What is her latest topic?"

"Jean Carlos and Victoria." Ruby cleared her throat. "Apparently there was a bit of an altercation yesterday."

"Altercation? Now there's a word." Milly replied but when noticing how rattled her friend appeared she added, "You know how tales grow taller the further down the alley the whispers go. What exactly did she claim happened that has you all unsettled?"

"She said Jean struck Victoria across her face and that there was some blood spilt."

"Whose blood?" Milly tried to lighten the mood. "You know that girl isn't apt to take shit from…"

"Milly! Please!" Ruby admonished and sat down hard in her kitchen chair.

Milly eyed Sadie, the sweet little old lady of color who'd been best friends with Ruby Prevost since she'd emigrated from England all those years ago. Sadie nodded and Milly took the hint. She cleared her throat and announced. "I'm gonna get this basket over to the church." She grabbed the basket and left.

Sadie walked over and sat down at the kitchen table next to Ruby. "Mind where you let your thoughts and worries take you."

Ruby looked up at her dearest friend. "Oh Sadie, I thought extracting him from that environment... maybe I didn't get him out of there soon enough. Nine years living that nightmare and bearing witness to it was eight years and 364 days too much. I still recall the horror of the day I learned what a bastard my daughter had married. It pains me to think I had a hand in raising yet another." She waved her hand around. "God knows I begged Deirdre to leave and for her and Jean to come home. My pleas went ignored until it was too late." Ruby choked up as the memories of the day that shattered her world replayed in her head. She could hear the phone ring, taste the bile rise up her throat as she was officially informed of her daughter's homicide… Domestic Violence was not as publicized then as it is now. Tears brimmed Ruby's eyes.

"No you listen here, you and Ed takin' that boy in, even at nine and givin' him a good home and a solid upbringin', you done good by him. Did the best you could, you know it's quality not quantity. I also knows you know that HE is in control of what he does. He can't go and pin this on havin' a shitty childhood or a daddy who wasn't worth a spit. Life history and heredity are just excuses folk give when they can't control their actions."

Ruby wrung her hands as her eyes darted here and there around her kitchen. She was trying to find some touchstone. Sadie continued in a slow, steady, calming voice. "Jean Carlos is a good boy. You've raised a fine young man, look how he cares for you, and Milly, and Henry and me. You know I can't even get my kids to come visit or call me on the telephone. And well, even though his choice in friends may leave a bit to be desired you can't fault the boy for seeking out a connection. Now Vix... him and her are very much alike and sometimes that can cause bumping of heads. Both of 'em being as volatile as they are, but you know in all the years I've known Jean, I don't think I've ever seen him quite so taken by a girl. Never cared enough to be vested, so he's learning as he goes. And I don't believe for one second that he has suddenly stopped loving her, so whatever happened that Margie is talking about has to be a misunderstanding."

"She's right you know." Henry said from the kitchen door.

Both ladies startled and grabbed their hearts. "Henry Darling!" Ruby exclaimed. "You've given us both a fright. I should tie a damned cow bell around your throat to announce your presence. How much have you heard?" 

"Quite enough. Milly filled me in on a bit and what I missed I can accurately guess. Sadie is correct though, you are not to blame for Jean Carlos' inability to control his temper. But we'd be remiss not to speak to him about it."

Ruby gasped "Speak to him on it? Henry have you gone mad? If I set sight on that boy right now I may well slap those tattoos straight off his bloody head. Victoria is the best thing ever happened to him and if he is too daft to realize it, well then ..." She threw up her hands with a sigh. Sadie and Henry exchanged a glance. "I need some tea." Ruby declared and walked to the stove.

_**XXX**_

4 blocks away:

Jax stalked into the SAMCRO club house and saw Juice coming up the hall leading from the dorms. He walked over and boxed Juice in the ears. Not giving the _retard_ time to react, Jax grabbed hold of the front of Juice's cut and aggressively pushed him back down the hall and into the wall to the left of John Teller's bike all the while reading him the riot act on manhandling and hitting women.

Juice finally got a word in edgewise and said, "Dude, it was an accident!"

"Did you apologize?" Jax looked at him point blank.

From the top of the hall behind them came Tig's voice. "He ain't got shit to be sorry for."

Without turning around, Jax hollered over his shoulder, "Stay out of it Tig!"

Tig laughed. "What? Did the Parkers go scampering off to you..."

"NO! They didn't." Jax wheeled around. "Tara went over to talk to Jaci 'bout something, got the story."

Following Tig's example and feeding off the cockiness that the man exuded, Juice quipped, "Yeah the Parker version."

Jax turned back around to face Juice and shoved a finger in his face. "I have had ENOUGH of the _he said. she said_ bullshit. Whatever you got going on in your head that caused you to dive head first into Crazytown...lock the brakes up on it. And as for HIM…" Jax pointed back over his shoulder at Tig, "HE is the last person on the planet you should be getting ANY kind of advice from."

Clay walked in and saw the exchange. He rolled his eyes and muttered, "Let me guess?" He shook his head and declared. "Alright then, these premises are officially a **Parker Free Zone**. I don't wanna hear their names!"

Tig nodded enthusiastically. "That's right; no one wants to hear no more 'bout those bitches. Fuckin' poison, man."

Half Sack frowned and poised the question, "So the Parkers are sorta like Voldemort?"

Juice nodded along to that sentiment, knowing what Sack was talking about.

"Volde-what?" Clay asked but then pointed a finger at Prospect. "Shut up! You've reached your monthly shit-causing quota." He looked around. "Everyone to the table in 5 minutes." He walked over to where Bobby was sitting at the bar. "Women... they started their shit back in the Garden of Eden and it's only gotten worse."

Bobby nodded. "Mmm hmm, pin all this on Adam and Eve, man. Ruin and pain for a goddamn apple. It would have at least taken a Truffle filled turkey for me."

Clay downed a shot of whiskey. "You been to Parker Place?" Then grimaced as he recalled his own ban.

Bobby sharply inhaled and then chuckled. "Yeah, dropped off the Charger 'round lunch time. _They-who-shall-not-be-named_ are still reeling but they are dealin'. The resident ra-tard needs to get his head outta his ass and fix this shit. He and um, _the-funky-one, _they had a good thing goin'." Bobby threw his thumb in Juice's direction. "But with him hanging on every word like Tig's some kinda MC Yoda... that ain't gonna help any which way."

Clay nodded. "Gemma ain't too happy. She heard the Luann version of events, which I am sure were colorful to say the least. I told her to keep outta it and let the chips fall where they may."

Bobby chuckled. "And how did that directive go over?"

"I believe the expression mentions something about a lead balloon. She's probably on her way over to check on the girls as we speak."

From across the room Chibs yelled, "All clear, Boss!"

Clay nodded and he and Bobby headed into Chapel

_**XXX**_

**The following day…**

Bobby and Chibs were riding back from handling some club business over in Lodi. They were stuck at a red light on their way out of town and with no other cars around and thus no _women _to ogle, Bobby let his eyes wander to the store fronts lining the street. His gaze stuck on a particular t-shirt hanging in the window of a printing shop. The stop light changed to green and Bobby didn't move. Chibs followed his gaze and let out a laugh. "HA! I am sooo buyin' that for him! Fookin' A!"

The Scot glanced around to make sure he was clear and then coasted his bike into a parking slot in front of the shop. He was off his bike and pulling off his helmet in an instant. Bobby pulled along of side him and shook his head. "I don't know man, nice laugh we had here about it but…"

"Oh come on." Chibs replied and started for the store. "Sit tight, be right back." A few moments later, Chibs returned from the store with the t-shirt in a plastic bag. He rolled it up and stuffed it in the compartment under his seat.

Bobby was still ambivalent. "I'm not sure Tig needs any more encouragement in the 'being an asshole' department."

Chibs laughed. "Come on, all in the name of bloody good fun!"

The guys started their bikes and backed into the street then roared off for home. They rolled into the Teller Morrow lot a bit later. Clay and Tig stood standing at the front of the garage, talking.

Bobby trailed behind as Chibs walked up, holding the rumbled bag in his left hand. "Oh, Tigger…I got something for ya." He tossed the bag to Tig, who frowned and caught it as hit him in the chest.

Tig dug into the bag and pulled the black t-shirt out. He held it up in front of him to get the full effect. A huge grin spread across his face and he started to laugh maniacally. He looked around the shirt at its buyer. "Chibsy...you're an asshole. This is fuckin great!"

Bobby winced. "You're actually going to wear that?"

"Hell yes I'm going to wear it." Tig replied as if Bobby was crazy.

"What's it say..._Whore_?" Clay frowned.

Tig flipped the shirt around so Clay could see that it said _**ROLE MODEL**_ in big white letters.

The SAMCO President shook his head. "Jesus Christ." Tig and Chibs busted up laughing.

Chibs held up a finger in explanation. "Hey, this is Parker's fault…she said it, I just bought the shirt."

Bobby shakes his head and clarified. "Jaci's words were sarcastic...hate filled even."

Oblivious to the arguing, Tig grinned. He was as happy as a clam as he tossed the shirt in his tool box and pondered the right moment to wear it.

_**XXX**_

For three days after the Cara Cara showdown, Vix waited, breath baited, for Juice to come round and apologize. For all their crazy little spats and quarrels, it had never taken longer than a few hours for one or both of them to come to their senses and come crawling back begging forgiveness. This time had been a whole 'nother species of beast… so Vix had thought that perhaps a bit more time was necessary for Juice to realize the extent of her love and that she'd never strayed. Each hour that passed stung harder. Finally there was no denying the fact that Juice wouldn't be apologizing, not in person, not over the phone. Vix picked her heart up off the floor, cleaned herself up, dressed in faded jeans and a Crimson Tide t-shirt and slowly trudged her way into the kitchen.

_**XXX**_

_Another mornin'-after a crazy night-before  
I'm searching for my blue jeans on a stranger's bedroom floor  
Shouldn't I feel guilty? Well, I don't feel a thing_

_I'd wake her up and say 'goodbye' but I can't recall her name  
Anything goes…when everything's gone…  
You ain't around to give a damn, whether I do right or wrong  
So bring it on… cause anything goes when everything's gone_

_-Anything Goes, Randy Houser_

Juice sat on the edge of the bed in the one dorm room at the clubhouse. A sharp knock on the door came followed by Chibs' voice, "Juice! Table in TEN."

"YEP!" Juice hollered back. He glanced behind him at the blonde snoring quietly on the bed. He nudged her awake.

She yawned and stretched, offering a greeting of "Morning."

"Afternoon." He corrected. "Better get outta here, you're gonna be late for work."

"I don't have any scenes today. I have nothing to do."

"Yeah well I do, so get a move on." He stood up and grabbed his jeans off the pile of their clothes lying nearby. He snatched up his shirt as he walked towards the door.

"Wanna get together tonight?"

He shrugged, never looking back at her as he exited the room.

_**XXX**_

Vix found Jaci sorting the mail in the kitchen. "He ain't gonna apologize. He's apparently as done with me as he said he was. It's been three days with not so much as a word."

"I'm sorry Vix". Jaci sighed. "But, are you sure you don't want to give it a little longer? Hell I took a week to drop Dean and I wasn't the least bit unsure about what he'd done."

Vix shook her head. "It usually takes us HOURS to make up. If he can't admit he's wrong in 3 DAYS, J…"

"Ok, good point."

"You know your crystal ball was pretty dam clear. Back when I brought up the idea of the salon buy...'bout what if Juice and I busted up?"

Jaci nodded. She saw the t-shirt Vix was sporting and a pang of homesickness shot through her. "Ok, fair enough. But for the record, I NEVER wanted this to happen in a million years. And if we are being completely honest, you even said you'd thought of it too. So if I may be so blunt as to ask – what's you're thinking now? Cause if it involves selling the salon and splitting town, I'd be torn between wringing your neck and kissing you."

"I am thinking that moving ahead with my life here is gonna take all the strength I got and then some…. but I'm gonna do it." Vix moved an envelope around with her finger. "I'm damn proud of that salon and you know what. Don't think bad of me but I hope like hell it hurts him just a little bit every time he has to drive by it or hear it brought up in conversation."

"Sweetie that doesn't make me think less of you. Hell I would've thought something was wrong with ya if you didn't feel that way." Jaci smirked. "Might be able to strike a deal with Bobby and Gemma to mention Twisted every chance they get."

Vix smiled for her sister's benefit."I gotta make some calls then."

"Who you gonna call?" Jaci asked, _Wait for it._..

"I gotta call him; I got some shit at his place I'm needing back." Vix answered without so much as a nod to her sister's age-old joke.

Jaci nodded to herself and in her brain answered, _GHOSTBUSTERS! "Y_eah I guess you ought to." She said to Vix's back.

_**XXX**_

Juice headed out of the chapel with the others and grabbed his cell phone from the cigar box. He powered it up and was just grabbing a bottle of Bud when the message notification sounded. He flipped the phone open and his heart lurched as he read: _** TEXT MESSAGE: Vix Cell 49 mins ago.**_

His heart started pounding rapidly as he retrieved the text and read it. _**Got some stuff at your place I need - can you meet me there? **_He groaned before he could help himself.

Seeing the frown and furrowed brow Tig nodded. "What's up?"

Juice passed the phone to Tig, since he didn't trust his voice to relay the message. Suddenly, he wasn't even able to keep up the tough facade.

Tig read the message with a smirk and then glanced at Juice, who now wore a nervous, semi-hopeful look on his face. "Oh, goddamn it, the puppy dog eyes are back." Tig flipped the phone shut and smacked it down on the bar. "THREE DAYS, Juice! She hasn't made a move in THREE DAYS...cause she's GUILTY. Probably getting her story straight in her head. Well fuck that, man. She wants her shit back... go let her have it and get it over with." He pushed at Juice's shoulder and made the kid look at him. "You've been havin' a damn good time with Luann's chick, right? Right?" Tig smiled widely. "All the gravy... none of the grief, man."

Juice grinned slightly, recalling the last few nights then nodded. He grabbed his phone and typed a reply as he was headed out the door.

Tig hollered after him. "DO NOT LET HER FUCK WITH YOUR HEAD!"

"What's that about?" Bobby asked as he returned from using the facilities.

Tig shook his head in disgust. "Fuckin' Vix sent him a message, wants her shit back from his place."

Bobby grimaced, thinking the tides must have changed. Last he knew, Vix was still waiting on Juice to realize the error of his ways. "You advised him to play nice, right?"

"Why would I do that?" Tig asked with a roll of his eyes. Bobby didn't bother to argue and just walked away.

_**XXX**_

Rudy and Sadie were cutting back the roses on the far side of the apartment building when Juice roared into the lot on his bike. They watched as he removed his helmet and placed it on the handle bars and then rolled his shoulders in an obvious attempt to relieve tension. Ruby was just about to hand her shears to Sadie and head over to speak with her grandson when Vix's pulled into the lot in her Charger and parked next to the Harley. The two watched as Vix emerged from her car and without so much as a word, followed Juice into the building. Ruby and Sadie exchanged hopeful glances and went back to their pruning.

Juice pressed the button for the building's ancient elevator as Vix began taking the steps two-at-a-time. Juice glanced at her. "Havin' time on your hands got ya rested up… feelin' energetic?"

She stopped and looked back down at him. "Not particularly, just not sure I trust being in a 6x6 space with you." She started back up the stairs but slowed down to a walk after she was clear of seeing him. Her heart broke with each step… on the way over her fool heart had conspired to play a trick on her mind, making her think maybe if she could get him alone, away from the influence of his dumb-ass friends, she could talk some sense into him, make him see that she loved him and hadn't… _wouldn't_ betray him. But it seemed Juice was still wanting to be an unreasonable asshole. Juice's studio apartment was located in the attic of the building, the floor that they had playfully dubbed _HEAVEN _ with the prior two floors being _Hell and Purgatory_. The let down of Juice's attitude had zapped her energy and by the time she reached his apartment she was physically and emotionally exhausted.

He entered the apartment a minute or two later and found her standing in the middle of the living room, looking around the space as if she'd never set foot in it, let alone practically taken up residence there. The shattered look on her face was almost more than he could take but he suddenly heard Tig in his brain, _DO NOT LET HER FUCK WITH YOUR HEAD! Luann's girls… it's all the gravy, none of the grief! _Juice cleared his throat, "I gotta get back to work, so…" 

Without a word she began walking around his place, grabbing her stuff from here and there, out of this drawer and that. He stood in the corner of the room biting at his thumb nail as he watched her. With her arms laden with her belongings, she disappeared into his bathroom and returned with her toothbrush clenched in her teeth, her makeup bag tucked under her arm. She caught him watching her and for a split second saw something in his eyes that didn't drip with distain. She reached up and yanked her toothbrush out of her mouth. "Is all of this necessary?" She asked and watched, her words no sooner hit the air and the look in his eyes changed.

His reply was cold, cocky and intended to hurt. He didn't sound like himself at all, he sounded like someone else, sounded like Tig. "Unless you want your shit tossed in the dumpster.. yeah it is."

"Juice, come on… please. Just talk to me. Ho-how did we get here?" She questioned as some part of her needed to make sense of the madness and was not willing to just ride the ruin train.

"You need me to draw a fuckin' map? How you think we got HERE?" He hissed.

"I'm NOT guilty as charged, Juice!" Vix pleaded.

He shook his head. "Whatever... so you say."

"SO is TRUE!" She stated with emphasis. "I.. I just don't get what would make you think... I mean, what Kipp told you was very incorrect."

"So you weren't at the restaurant with that dickhead of a professor?"

"I was but…"

He waved her off and pushed off the wall he'd been leaning up against. He turned his back on her.

"Jean Carlos!" Vix yelled. "I .. I am bleeding out here... please!"

He turned and looked as her, all cold featured and removed. "Bandages are in bathroom, don't stain the carpet."

She felt herself fill with seething anger. She sucked in her breath and dropped everything she'd been holding. "FUCK YOU!"

"Nah-ah… not no more." He said with a cold sneer and a shake of his head. "I'm done being fucked by you… literally and figuratively, every which fuckin' way."

Vix just shook her head rapidly, in disbelief and shocked anger and overwhelming sadness. She stepped over the pile of her things still laying in the middle of the floor and started to walk out of the apartment.

Juice hollered after her, "Hey! You wanted your shit, aren't you gonna take it?"

She stood out on the little hallway landing and turned to stare at him. "Nah, there ain't a DAMN thing HERE I want no more."

Her words were all a front, the entire scene was a lesson in futility and it was killing her. She was pretty sure she could feel her heart breaking inside her chest but she'd be damned if she'd let him know that. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the cool, blown-glass vase that she and he had made at the one fair she'd drug him to. It signified a good time in their history and she suddenly needed to possess it as proof that they'd been happy once-upon-a-time.

"Nothing I want…except this." She walked back in and snatched up the vase then spun on her heel. She grabbed the half-dead roses out of it and chucked them at Juice's head. He'd anticipated her move and deflected the stems with his hand. What he hadn't anticipated was her up-turning the vase and pouring the water all over his living room floor. He glared at her as she made an overly dramatic _oops_ face and said sarcastically, "Woops, sorry 'bout the carpet."

He watched as she turned on her heel and hurried down the stairs. His bark of "BITCH!" was covered by his slamming of the door.

Ruby and Sadie turned at the sound of the front door jarring open with great force and watched Vix storm down the walk towards her car.

"Victoria!" Ruby called out after the girl.

Never slowing her stride, Vix glanced over at the two older women and failed miserably at trying to smile for their benefit. She felt herself about to cry and just waved and hollered "I cant .. I.. I gotta go!" She was in her car a second later and tearing out of the lot.

_**XXX**_

_Hey little sister, what have you done… _Billy Idol sang questioningly indicating an incoming call from Vix. Jaci sighed, thinking _Good Damn Question._ "Hey chick." 

Vix didn't even wait for Jaci to finish her greeting before blurting out. "I'm sorry man, I had to bolt. I even all half my crap there. I just grabbed a vase of flowers, threw the stems at him and poured the water all over his floor and then left... I didnt even get your damn key. Sorry."

"It's ok man. Don't worry about it, just go home and chill." Jaci tried to soothe.

Vix sniffled, "No can do, Gemma just called and advised me that I got pulled for _kid duty. _Kenny and Ellie, and Moby, hell, Jax even asked me this morning if I could help out with Abel today. I'm headed over to his place after stopping by Op's." She sniffled again. "Got to pull my self together, man. Don't want to spook the kiddos. I need to run out to Stockton to pick up the shirts and magnets for the open house." Vix blew out a breath. "Gotta dig deep man cause it damn near took all my strength to go to that apartment today. Tthe world really needs to stop spinning for a bit when your heart gets stomped, it'd be easier. "

Jaci didn't like the way Vix sounded. "Let me call Tara or Gemma. You're in no shape to deal with .."

"Everyone has their own stuff going on... I'll suck it up. I called Rach, she ain't doin' nothing today, gonna ride along, help out."

"Ok, well _I _ will take Moby off your hands." Jaci offered. "I got some serious copying to do, I'll will put him to work."

"Thanks... I'll grab Kenny and Ellie and then jet over to relieve Neeta."

"Call me later." Jaci said firmly, waiting to keep tabs on her sister.

"I will." Vix assured, knowing her big sis was a worry wart.

_**XXX**_

Jaci rolled into the TM parking lot promptly at 4:30pm with Moby riding shotgun. She had text Juice earlier and asked him to have Vix's stuff there and ready to go. He had text back a simple 'fine'. She wasn't crazy about having to see Juice and the rest of the idiots that had crucified her sister but it was a task that had to be done. The quicker Vix got her stuff back, the quicker she could start moving on.

Moby jumped out of the car with a little more enthusiasm than Jaci could muster. Juice came walking up with an annoyed look on his face, she could tell that even though he was wearing dark sunglasses that hid his eyes. He went straight for the Grand Torino parked a few cars down from the Mustang. Jaci stifled a smirk realizing that he had had to drive Ruby's car into work in order to carry Vix's stuff. He hauled a carburetor box from Ruby's trunk over to Jaci's opened trunk and put it inside.

"Hi, Juice!" Moby said brightly as he watched Juice.

Juice nodded toward him. "Hey, Mob." He headed back to Ruby's trunk and pulled out a black Hefty bags and plopped it in Jaci's trunk.

Jaci glared at him. "You put her clothes in a trash bag…classy." He just shrugged as he stood at the back of her car with her. She stared off across the parking lot in frustration for a moment and waited for him to say _something_ but he seemed to be holding his tongue today. She hated to quote a cliché but the tension between them was so thick you could cut it with a knife…or a chainsaw, she felt a strong inclination towards a chainsaw.

She looked over at Moby. "Hey, kiddo...grab your backpack and go say hi to your dad. I'll see ya tomorrow."

He ducked back in the car and grabbed his stuff and then walked back to give Jaci a fist pound. "See ya!" He called out and took off running for the garage. 

When Moby was out of earshot, she sighed and finally said, "I need your key."

"Key?" Juice asked with a frown.

"To my house…if you're not with my sister anymore, I really don't think I want you dropping by and hanging out." Jaci clarified bluntly.

Juice dug in his pocket and pulled out his key ring. He found the right key and worked it off the loop. His stomach clenched a bit as the finality of the gesture really hit him; things with Vix were really ending. He held the key out to Jaci limply. She took it and slid it into her pocket.

Tig had been on the phone in the office arguing with a parts place for the last fifteen minutes. He finally had just got pissed and hung up on them. As he stepped out into the garage, he glanced down the parking lot and noticed that Jaci was there and the little possession 'exchange' was in progress. He watched as Juice handed over a key. Tig rushed to the back of the garage and started tearing through his workstation until he found the ROLE MODEL shirt. He unbuttoned a few buttons his TM work shirt and quickly pulled it over his head.

Chibs let out a wolf whistle when he saw Tig standing shirtless. "Sexy!"

Tig grinned as he yanked the black t-shirt over his head and pushed the front of it under his belt in a messy half tuck. He winked at Chibs. "Watch this." He strutted out onto the parking lot toward Jaci and Juice.

Juice looked at Jaci and cocked his head. "So…are you gonna say something? Call me an asshole, give me some big speech?"

Jaci shook her head. "Nope. The way I figure it, you either feel absolutely horrible about what happened and you're working on a plan to fix it OR you're gonna be a complete dick and nothing I say will make a dent in that goddamn foolish head of yours. But for the record, I hope you're in the first category."

Before Juice could answer, Tig called out, "Problem, Juice?"

"Naw…she was just leaving." Juice replied and started walking back toward the garage.

"Don't think you're supposed to be here." Tig announced. Jaci looked and him and noticed the dumb shirt he was wearing. She wanted to walk over, pull it up over his face, and punch him like they did in hockey fights but she instead just rolled her eyes at him and shoved off of her trunk.

Tig was disappointed by Jaci's lack of reaction about the shirt. He thought she'd be pissed and yell at him. "That slap from Juice knock you quiet too?" Tig asked with a smirk. "Cause I'm liking the silent Parkers, maybe someone shoulda done it sooner."

The words alone were enough to spark anger in Jaci but the fact that Tig had LAUGHED after he said they should be slapped made her livid. That was a bold statement, even from the likes of him. Jaci stepped back around to the back of her car to stand in front of him. Her face was scrunched up in confusion and she just let loose a tirade without thinking about it. "'HOW is that funny, Tig? How is HITTING someone you love funny? Would it be funny if some guy slapped one of your daughters?"

He didn't respond but his face hardened at the mention of his daughters. They were always a touchy subject with him and she knew it. It seemed he had to be in just the right mood to talk about them and she had blindsided him. Jaci just looked at him, sort of defeated. "Do you want to take a shot at me? Go right ahead. I swear to God that would hurt less than the venom you've been spewing out your mouth lately."

Jaci rubbed her head as it began to throb with pain. "She didn't fuck her teacher, Tig. She LOVES Juice...you KNOW that. I'm at a loss at how you could stand by and watch them implode like that. You even encouraged it! Not one of you took five seconds to find out the TRUTH, you just all rushed to these stupid goddamn macho conclusions that put a good man in the hospital and ruined a perfectly good relationship! How is that FUNNY? It's NOT funny, it's fuckin' HORRIBLE!"

All the smart ass remarks in his mind seemed to die before Tig could spit them out. He stood in front of Jaci and watched her start to tear up from being so mad. He was honestly a bit stunned by her strong reaction.

She was more than a bit riled up. All the stuff she had been holding inside for months chose now as the time to pour out. She didn't even care if Tig was listening at this point, she just had shit she needed to SAY. She waved her hand around. "And I don't know what your deal with me is...why you've decided to be so damn hostile to me. But if you wanted me to hate you...I'm getting damn close to it."

Jaci shook her head harshly and steeled her eyes on his. "'I've always given you SO much leeway on bad behavior because I KNOW you're an emotional cripple and dealing with anything other than hookers and bikes gives you serious trouble. I mean being with you was honestly like watching a monkey play with a fork or something...you had love but you didn't know what the hell to do with it." She let out a sad laugh. "But I was stupid to give you any slack because you know _exactly_ what you're doing. You wearing that dumb shirt just proves it again. You're hurtful and spiteful and mean and inconsiderate not because you don't know any better but because YOU LIKE TO BE THAT WAY. You're a heartless, miserable prick, end of story."

Tig let out a slow laugh. "Did you just call me a monkey?"

Jaci waved him off. "You know what? It's fine...be an asshole; I really don't care anymore. But don't drag everyone else down with you...especially Juice."

"Oh don't blame that shit on me." Tig snapped back. "You ever think that maybe Juice WANTED a way out and now he has it?"

"No way- they were working on their problems before all this shit. I think you encouraged him. You know he looks up to you for whatever fucked up reason and misery loves company so you pulled him right down into your little hell hole of a life."

Jaci didn't give him any time to respond. She turned and headed to the driver side, but stopped suddenly as one last thought clicked in her head. A thought that had sprung to life the other day after his behavior at Cara Cara. She walked back up to him and hissed, "You may be nine kinds of wrong about Vix...but you WERE right about one thing. When we were together and you wanted to keep us on the down low? I should have listened...I should have kept you my dirty little secret. That way no one would have known and I wouldn't have to be so damn _ashamed_ of having hooked up with you. Stupidest damn thing I EVER did." Her rant was finally over and she quickly walked and opened her car door.

It took a half second before the fighting side of Tig snapped into action and he plastered that trademark predatory grin of his on his face. He took a step forward and hollered after her, "That it? Anything else you wanna bitch about? Don't be pissed at me cause of your sister's bullshit! She brought it on herself!" He was putting on a good show but her words had sucker punched a hole in him and he had to get back at her. "You know, you should just calm down…let all the shit going on around here just fly by you cause I really think being the middle Parker's gonna work out for you. Wendy got your mom's junkie genes, Vix inherited her whore tendencies, all the bad shit fell to the other two. You got it made if you'll just stop bitching!"

She gave him one last dirty look and got into her car and tore out of the lot. He watched her leave and took a deep breath. Anyone watching would be wondering why he had to be so damn mean. But there was a reason for it…he NEEDED to be that way. Since the day he had dumped her, he had tried and failed to forget about her. So he had decided to make _her_ forget about him. He was quickly burning the bridge between him and her, setting flame to any memory, any feeling, good or bad, with her. And he needed that bridge burned to a crisp…that way neither one of them would be tempted to walk across it again.

A few minutes later, Jaci pulled into the parking lot at the food market. Shopping had somehow been neglected for so long she had been shocked to find about the only food in the house was white rice and peanut butter. She immediately laid her head against her steering wheel as she killed the engine. Her head was pounding worse than ever before and her vision was a bit dodgy. _Ok, it's ok…just chill out, come on, calm down. It doesn't mean shit, he doesn't mean shit. It's all over. Come on…_She rolled her forehead back and forth on the steering wheel and let out a low grunt, trying to will her head to stop hurting. It took fifteen minutes before she was calmed down enough to think about getting out of the car. _Geez, I'm losing my fucking mind._

A tapping on her car window startled her she turned to see Gemma standing there with a concerned look on her face. Jaci hit the button and lowered the window. "Hey, Gemma."

"Interesting place for a cat nap."

Jaci laughed it off. "Yeah I am running on fumes. Wonder if I downed four or five of those 5-hour energy drinks if I could pull through the rest of my day? I gotta get some food for the house."

Gemma nodded towards the passenger seat. "Open it up." She walked around to the other side of the car as Jaci hit the unlock button and watched her slide inside. If Gemma was the Queen of the SAMCRO hive, then the Parkers and Tara were quickly becoming her highest ranking working bees, ones she could turn to and trust to get shit done and get it done right, quickly, quietly, whatever. The girls were proving their worth all the time. But the Queen bee knew you had to keep the workers at least semi-happy, otherwise they'd fly the hive and then where would she be? Left to do shit all by herself, that's where and she'd had enough of that. And right now the Parkers were NOT happy, they were hurting and Gemma looked to fix that as quick as possible.

For the next few minutes, secluded inside Jaci's Mustang, the two discussed the pros, cons and bullshit of being _affiliated_ with an MC and the all-encompassing strangle hold it could have on your life. In the end, Gemma shook her head as she eyed Jaci, "You can only get deeper, you're as far IN as you'll EVER be OUT."

Jaci looked over at the older woman and asked, "Meaning what exactly?"

"Meaning that just because you girls aren't fuckin' a member...that doesn't make you any less affiliated. You've got blood ties...there's no cutting those. So unless you plan on giving up your family and start globe hopping the likes of Carmen Santiago, you're never gonna be UN-affiliated to some degree."

"You know we were directed to leave town." Jaci reminded.

Gemma smirked. "Consider the source, darlin'. Is it really in your blood to tuck tail and run? You two do that and I'll be the FIRST to admit you aren't the girls I thought you were."

Jaci snorted. "We're everything you thought and more... cause we ain't running, we're opening a damn business on fuckin' MAIN Street."

"Good girls." Gemma popped the door open. "So when is that grand opening? Cause I know a MC charter that will be present and accounted for."

"That's probably a really bad idea."

"I know." Gemma smirked "Don't you just love those?"

"Gemma, I'm serious. I don't think that…"

Gemma held up a finger and smiled to stop Jaci's objections. "SAMCRO is a family. Families support each other whether they are bickering or not. You girls are family and you're doing something _good_…you _will _be supported." Jaci just nodded as Gemma left her to her shopping, know it was a lost cause to argue at this point.

_**XXX**_

In a garage bay at Teller Morrow, Jax was trying to talk on his cell phone. He had one finger jammed in his ear over the noise around him. "What? Vix calm down I can't understand you…. well is everyone alright.. is anyone bleeding?" He rolled his eyes and looked skyward. "Trip to the ER is a bit mellow dramatic… ok yeah she would ... alright yeah,... we're on our way." He shook his head. "Just relax ok... no Gemma is not going to KILL you."

He flipped his phone shut. "Hey, Op! We gotta roll, man. Vix and the kids were in a fender bender. No one was hurt but Vix took Abel to St Thomas just to make sure and now Tara is running every test known to man and probably inventing a few."

Opie just nodded, put down the screwdriver he was using and started to wipe his hands on a shop rag. He was the picture of perfect calm which made Jax a bit worried. The VP didn't know if he just had that effect on his friend or if Op was just that DISTANT from his kids right now that he had forgot to get all amped up. One would think if a guy had just lost his wife a few months ago to a freak violent incident, he'd been a little more riled up about his kids being potentially hurt in a car accident…but then again everyone handled grief differently. Op seemed to be just burying his.

Vix and Rachel were in the ER waiting room with Ellie and Kenny. Tara had already taken Abel back to be checked out. The kids were busying themselves with a few _Highlights _magazines after the girls had assured them nine hundred times that Abel was completely fine.

Vix sat with her knee bouncing nervously. She was a train wreck and in serious need of a damn smoke. She had enough drama going on with the Juice breakup and now THIS had landed at her feet. She spotted Op and Jax as they came strolling down the hall. She jumped up and rushed over to them.

"Jax.. Opie I am so sorry! Tara's having Abel checked out. Um, the triage nurse said Kenny and Ellie are fine but I'm not sure." She looked back nervously toward the kids who were just now standing up to walk over to their dad. She wrung her hands. "Do you think maybe they need an MRI or CAT scan or something?"

Opie frowned. "Why? They look fine… not a scratch on 'em." He walked over and put an arm around each kid as they hugged his waist. "You kids ok?"

"We're fine." Kenny and Ellie replied in unison.

"Famous last words." Vix huffed.

Jax smiled and looked at his sister in law. "Dude, calm down. You're twitchin' like Lowell."

Op shook his head and smiled too. "Ok, litmus test… um, Ellie what is the square root of 100?"

"10." Ellie answered after a quick second. .

"See?" Op said with a smile.

Vix frowned. "Is that right?"

Opie laughed. "Do I look like I know the square root of 100?"

Jax shrugged. "She didn't answer PURPLE or Roadrunner or something, she's fine."

"What about Kenny?" Vix asked with concern in her voice.

"I dont know what square roots are." Kenny warned as he looked up at his dad.

Jax nodded. "Who'd win a fight… Batman or Spiderman?"

Kenny looks stumped; he eyed his dad who mouthed _BATMAN. _ Kenny smiled and answered confidently. "Batman!"

"The kids are fine, Vix. You on the other hand need to relax." Jax smirked. "I seriously need a smoke, man." He glanced at Vix's friend. "Rachel right? You were there too…you ok?" She nodded. "You mind keepin' an eye on the kids for a few?" She said no problem and Jax looked to Vix. "Come on, walk with me and Op and you can fill us in on what happened."

Outside Vix spilled the fender bender details to the guys. "It was some blonde chick that plowed into us. Said her dad is opening a cigar shop in town over on main? Zoebel or something like that - I have it written down in my bag." A thought hit her and she stood up straighter. "Oh my Christ! I coulda seriously wiped out the whole next generation of SAMCRO! Those three should be like Prince Charles and Will and Harry... NO traveling together!"

Jax and Opie both chuckled at the distraught Parker. "Bit drastic don't cha think?" Jax asked. "So you think this was really an accident?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Vix asked with a frown. "That intersection has seen some doosies over the years, right? If you don't know the area or see the sign that opposing traffic don't got to stop…KAPOW! Accident waiting to happen, man. I am just glad no one was hurt."

Op cocked an eyebrow to Jax. Vix was obviously forgetting that Zoebel was the guy that had crashed Bobby's party and demanded that the Sons stop running guns. He had heard all about the showdown, it had sounded intense. But Vix was freaked out enough, neither man was about to add fuel to her paranoia fire.

"You call J and tell her what happened?" Jax asked.

"No fuckin' way." Vix answered with a wince. "She tried to talk me out of being out and about today. I'm not callin' and droppin' this shit on her."

Jax laughed but warned. "She's gonna be pissed if you wait and tell her later."

Vix shrugged. "J's real testy lately…probably be pissed either way." The trio finished their cigarettes and headed back inside to see about Abel.

_**XXX**_

**The next morning... **

"Checked three salvage lists man. Only thing I found was highly overpriced. Short of stealing one I'm not sure Vix is gonna get authentic." Opie advised as Jax walked over to check the progress on finding the new fender for the Charger.

"What the shit will she care what it costs? She ain't payin' for it." Jax settled in to work on the bike in front of him. "Get 'em to fax over a quote on the part, tack on some ridiculous labor costs and write up the estimate."

Opie nodded and headed to the office to make the call just as Clay and Tig were entering the garage.

"How's Abel?" Clay asked. "Bobby told me about the fender bender."

"Little dude is fine, like I told Gemma." Jax replied with a sigh but then looked more serious. "So Bobby also tell ya who it was bumped into Vix?"

Clay shook his head. "Just said something about it happening out at Hobson and Vulcante. Vix had the right of way but the other asshole didn't yield."

Jax nodded. "Yeah…the other asshole…Zoebel's daughter." Jax studied Clay's reaction and watched a frown cross Tig's face. "Before you go turnin' this shit into a damn conspiracy theory… by all accounts it sounds completely accidental."

"Yeah and a whole lot convenient timing wise." Clay spat. "We torch a meth lab a few days ago and now one of my guy's old ladies is getting _bumped_?'

Jax again played it off. "I hardly think the two things are equal. It's nothing."

"EX… EX ol' lady." Tig interjected at random.

Jax tossed a glare at him. "What?"

"Ex- Ol' Lady. Juice ain't with Vix no more." Tig noticed the cold stares from Jax and the impatient one from Clay and added, "What? Just settin' the record straight."

"Yeah cause you're just known for your commitment to truth and honesty and straight records." Jax said as he rolled his eyes.

Tig was about to fire back some comment but when he saw Gemma enter the garage he stopped himself. He nodded towards her,"Hey Gemma."

Clay turned around and smiled at his wife. He then noted the look on her face and presses his lips into a thin line, "What are you up to?" Jax greeted his mom with a hug and walked off to start work.

"About 5 foot 9 but the heels make me look taller." She replied with a smirk. "I was over at the Parker's …"

At the mention of _those girls that weren't supposed to be goddamn named because Clay had fuckin' said so, _Tig cocked his head at Gemma and shoved his fingers in his ears. Gemma glared at him and slapped his chest with the back of her hand. "Oh grow up!"'

Clay emitted a groan. "Is a day without mention of those girls too much ask? Just one day?"

"You can have your day baby, just not today." Gemma shrugged.

"Well if I gotta hear about 'em, better make it good."

Clay listened to his wife for all of two minutes before cutting her off with a laugh. "No fuckin' way. No way am I making the guys show up for that shit. Experience tells me your plan has less to do with SAMCRO being supportive of small business and more to do with pushing Juice and Vix Parker to a reconciliation and trying to get Dickweed here back with her sister."

"I don't want him back with Jaci." Gemma said matter-of-factly. Tig didn't know if he should be offended by that sentiment.

"Whatever." Clay waved his hand. "I'm telling you to mind your business… you and your fuckin' match making. Take a break. If those two work it out or don't… it's up to them."

Gemma rolled her eyes. "Well somebody needs to needs to arrange the matches; goddamn young people can't decide these things."

Clay laughed, amused. "Goin' musical are we? Well let me paint a scene for you that you ain't gonna see at the theater, I will knock that fiddler off the goddamn roof and shove his bow so far up your ass you'll be able to whistle and strum Dixie… now leave this shit alone."

"It's just a salon opening, baby, not a shotgun wedding." Gemma smiled as she essentially ignored her husband demands. "Oh and I'm gonna need a list of the guy's t-shirt sizes." She walked away singing, _**M**__**atch maker, match maker, make me a match... find me a find... catch me a catch.**_" She stopped at the entrance to the shop office and turned, winked at her husband and then walked thru the door and slammed it shut behind her.

Tig frowned at his boss and friend. "Are you seriously gonna make all us go to that fuckin' salon opening?"

"If I don't… I'll have to deal with a pissed off Gemma and I make it a point to keep that shit to a minimum." Clay replied with defeat. He looked at Tig and sneered. "Cheer up though, looks like you'll be getting another t-shirt; add to your little collection."

"Shit." Tig replied with a groan. "Hey, how the fuck do you know about Fiddler on the Roof?"

Clay smirked. "How do YOU?"

Tig shrugged. "I helped a college chick practice for an audition once."

"Did she get the part?"

"Not a chance." Tig laughed.


	7. Chapter 65 One thing leads to another

**Walk Away from the Son**

**Parker Sister Saga continues – Season 2 of SoA  
Chapter 6.5- One Thing Leads to Another  
****By BG and Reaper**

**~Bad news, good news…we thought this little scene was just too good to cram at the end of the last chapter, so we gave it its very own mini-chapter. Hopefully you will like it too! Bad news is that BG is going on vacation for a week so the next update might take a bit. Reaper is going to work on Chapter 7 and hopefully we can post an update before the month ends. **

_**XXX  
**_

Jaci sat on the wicker couch on her back deck with her feet propped up on the lit fire pit and her third glass of wine in her hand. She stared at the flames and sighed. She thought about how much things had changed in the last few months, how her and Vix had went from being completely happy to completely pissed and unsettled. Neither of the girls had been the type to wrap their self worth and happiness up in a man but both girls had gotten their hearts stomped on and it had fucking hurt. Jaci was really beginning to come out of her _Tig funk_. The situation with him was obviously a dead horse and didn't require any further beating. Her mind flitted to a Jay Z song, something about _go 'n' brush ya shoulders off._ That was exactly what Jaci was doing about Tig…so long, see ya sucker, she was moving away from feeling hurt and comfortably settling into feeling pissed off. She felt horrible for Vix though. The bullshit with Juice was, well _bullshit_. That wound was going to hurt for a long, long time.

A vibrating chime from her cell phone snapped Jaci back to reality. As if some telepathy existed between them, Jaci laughed when she saw the text message was from her sister She quickly read about how Vix was gonna tag along while Rachel worked her _N_th odd job of the week: bartending part time for Big Daddy. Not to wait up, the two would be literally closing down the bar. Jaci typed back a quick reply urging her sister to have fun but try not to make it too late of a night – they had a big day tomorrow.

A few minutes later, a persistent buzzing of the front door bell caught her attention. Good thing she had left the patio door cracked a bit. She carried her wine glass inside and headed for the front door, wondering who the hell was busting up her night of relaxation. The work on the salon was finally done and the grand opening was tomorrow…all Jaci had to worry about tonight was sitting on her ass and chilling the fuck out…something she had needed to do for a very long while.

Jaci looked out the dirty peephole and couldn't really tell who was standing outside; but she could see a SAMCRO cut. _Fuck…here we go…goddamn drama I'm sure. _She pulled open the door and frowned. Chibs stood on her front porch and stepped toward her with an uneasy grin on his face.

"Hey." The Scotsman said simply.

The frown did not leave Jaci's face but she replied with a neutral, "Hey" as well.

"Is Vix around?" Chibs asked and Jaci shook her head. He smiled. "Good…I was hopin' not to have my arse handed to me. Can I come in for a minute?"

Jaci stared at him but held her tongue. _You played wing-man to a beat down, pretty much called my sister a whore and now you're standing HERE- asking permission to come in my house? _She was getting to the point where she wasn't surprised by anything though so she just sighed and then turned back inside the hallway. "Oh sure, why not?" She said over her shoulder.

Chibs followed her and shut the door behind him. She headed straight out back to the deck, sat down on the couch again and looked up at him with mild annoyance. He looked around the deck and noticed the bottle of wine and pack of cigarettes by the fire pit. He smiled and pointed to her wine glass. "Ya feelin' sophisticated tonight?"

"You know you butcher the absolute hell out of the English language, right?" She took another drink and then asked coolly, "Why you here, Chibsy?"

"Wonderin' how we're gonna fix things with Juice and your sister."

"Fix things? WE? **I **didn't break anything…**I** don't have to fix shit." She nodded in his direction. "I believe all the fixin' needs to come from you and your little band of conclusion jumping idiots."

Chibs took the idiot insult with a slight cock of his head. He knew he deserved it though. "Idiots heh? How drunk are you?"

"I got a sweet buzz goin'." Jaci shrugged. "But I'd call you an idiot even if I was sober. You know that whole thing was bullshit. I mean, I guess I understand Kipp screwing up cause he has more heart than brains... and probably felt like he was protecting Juice." She rolled her eyes trying to wrap her brain around that logic for a second. She gave up and continued, "But YOU! Chibs? I mean damnit! All you had to do was CALL me and all this shit could have been prevented."

"I know, I know." Chibs held his hands up in surrender. "I promise to ring ya the next time I go to beat the fuck outta a guy."

Jaci looked at him."That was like the worst apology ever. Seriously, the only person who does a shitter job of apologizing is Tig."

"Ouch… I can imagine." He pointed to the couch. "Can I sit…have a smoke?"

She looked him over. He stood with his hands low on his hips wearing dark jeans, a grey long sleeve t-shirt with the sleeves pushed up with his cut over it and yes, of course, his ever present sunglasses were pushed up on his forehead even though it was dark. She sighed and motioned to the empty seat next to her on the couch. "Knock yourself out."

He grabbed the pack and shook out a cigarette and stuck it in his mouth. As he lit up, he asked, "Since when you smoke?"

She took a drink of wine and sighed. "Since the weight of the fucking world decided to take up residence on my shoulders." She snorted. "I was actually going to quit and then this shit with Vix and Juice happened. Lord knows ya need some nicotine to get through all the crying jags and screaming matches."

Chibs blew out of a stream of smoke as he sat down. "So how do we fix it?"

"WE can't. Pride has to be dropped, faults have to be admitted, apologies made and whatever the fuck. And that's assuming she even WANTS him back."

"Ehh come on…those two are fucking made for each other. Up till this shit, they were perfect."

"Nothing's perfect, Chibs. Everything is fucked up in its own little way, it's just a matter of how much." Jaci mused as she took a sip of wine.

He smiled. "Didn't know you were so poetic when you're drunk."

"I have my moments." She sighed. "I dunno…I guess we just listen to them when they wanna talk about it and try to push 'em in the right direction. Things have to cool down for a bit I think though."

He nodded in agreement and they were silent for a few minutes. He stared at the flames of the fire pit and raised his eyebrows. The back deck was a pretty neat little setup, probably a good place to just sit and think about shit. The only thing missing was some background music and well, maybe some pot. A moment later, Jaci drained the rest of her wine and set the glass on the pit frame. She leaned forward and had her elbows resting on her knees. "There is so much _shit _going on lately. I swear they put something in the water here that just makes people crazy."

"Not a bad theory." He agreed and waited a moment. "So… you still pissed at us?"

"Kipp…no, you…no, Juice…YES." Jaci answered. "That boy has a LOT of explaining to do some day."

"Fair enough." He stared at her profile as she stared down at her bare feet. "You ok?" He asked with concern in his voice.

She kept looking down and laughed slightly. "I'm wore out…I mean just fuckin' drained." She didn't mean to start a ramble of _woe is me_ bullshit but it just sort of rushed out of her. It had been a while since anyone had asked how she was and genuinely seemed to mean it, well besides Bobby and Vix. Gemma had asked but it had probably been a self serving inquiry. "I've got my eight or nine hour day job, work on the salon from the time I get off there until like damn near midnight, Gemma's got me playin' H&R Block and Bobby's got me playing Porn Accountant. I'm trying to squeeze in time with Abel and Moby and we're helping with Kenny and Ellie too. Not to mention this place." She waved her hands at the house, "The joys of homeownership, this place ain't self-cleaning and that lawn doesn't mow itself."

"You want I could send the Prospect over? Let him kick around the lawn mower." Chibs offered.

Chibs watched as she flexed her hands in and out of fists and shook her head. She lost her words for a minute and when she started talking again, her voice had shifted, like she was barely holding it together. "I just…I…I don't have a minute to breathe, you know? I'm just going and going and going and I thought that's what I needed to do but fuck, I can't do it much longer."

He leaned over and put his hand on her back but she didn't even seem to notice, being too caught up in spilling her thoughts. He didn't mind her rant at all although seeing her so upset was a bit unsettling for him. He didn't really know what to do so he just scooted a bit closer to her, rubbed her back and let her talk. He looked down at her bare feet and smiled at the rings on her manicured toes. His eyes wandered upward to her faded, holey blue jeans. She was wearing a tight white tank top and from the angle he sat at, he could see half way down her shirt. He knew he shouldn't stare but he did anyway.

"How do you do it?" Jaci asked out of the blue.

Chibs frowned. He had been staring at her and letting his mind play in the gutter a little bit and hadn't really heard her question. He snapped to attention and hoped she hadn't busted him gawking at her. "Uh…sorry. What?"

She turned her head slightly to look at him. "I said how do you it…deal with the all the bullshit all the time?"

He kept his hand on her back and shrugged slightly. "Dunno…guess ya just roll with it."

Jaci thought about his answer for a second and mumbled. "_Roll with it_…right…thank you Steve Winwood." She glanced at him again and then looked back on the deck floor. Her jaw flexed and she shook her head.

With that quick glance, Chibs noticed it looked like there were tears in her eyes. He grimaced, knowing he was complete shit when it came to handling a crying woman. She inhaled deeply and blew out her breath. Jaci turned her to face him, looking helpless and a bit lost.

"Shit, I'm sorry." An embarrassed laugh escaped from Jaci as she quickly wiped a tear away from her eye with her thumb. "I didn't mean to turn on the waterworks…just slipped out."

"It's ok, J." Chibs said softly. They locked eyes and he nodded. "It's ok." A moment later she nodded slightly in return. Her tank top had pulled up a bit in the back and as Chibs ran his hand down her spine to comfort her more, his fingers touched skin. He ducked his hand under her shirt and let his palm feel the heat of her skin. She didn't shy away from his touch and the look of concern on his face shifted ever so slightly to one of lust.

"It's ok." He said again, but this time he was talking less about her crying and more about the illicit thoughts that were swirling in his head. He wanted to make her feel better. He kept his eyes locked on hers. She bit her bottom lip and nodded her head again, silently agreeing to _something_. Her eyes were glued on him, watching his every little move.

Chibs moved his hand out from under her shit to the back of her neck and pulled her toward him in one fluid motion. Only instead of just hugging her like he should have…he kissed her. It was a straight forward, no mistaken intentions sort of kiss. He held his lips against her for only a second before sliding his tongue inside her mouth. She sort of froze with her hands in her lap and kissed him back automatically without thinking. It was a weird knee jerk reaction; she just …_rolled with it_.

A second later, Chibs pulled back slightly, still holding her neck with his hand. He stared at her with every intention of apologizing to her…that was until she looked back at him with wide eyes and did the sexist thing ever…she slowly licked her lips, like she was tasting his kiss. He cocked an eyebrow at that and grunted softly as he felt all the blood from his brain rushing at breakneck pace to a more southern locale.

Chibs kissed her hard and felt her grip the front of his cut with her hand and the race was on. The reaction between the two of them was intense and fast, their hearts pounded and their breathing intensified. He reached up and grabbed his sunglasses that were getting in the way and tossed them blindly on the table next to the couch. He then moved his left hand to grab for her waist. He realized he was still holding his lit cigarette just as he almost burnt a hole in the side of her tank top. He kept kissing her but tried to glance to the side with his eyes but only succeeded in making himself feel crossed eyed. Finally he dropped the cigarette on the deck and stomped blindly at it with his boot and let his hands set to roaming over Jaci.

"What's…" Jaci mumbled as she kissed him.

"Nothin'…it's ok." He assured.

She mumbled something inaudible in return. She was doing a good job of shutting off the part of her brain that was screaming _Why the fuck are you making out with Chibsy? Stop it right now! _Jaci just went right along with whatever Chibs was doing for the simple reason of it felt really good to be wanted. For the first time in months, here was a man that wasn't screaming at her or making her cry or making her mad. He was actually trying to make her feel _good _and goddamn, it had been so long since she had felt that way_. _Suddenly she wanted some pleasure in its simplest form, she wanted fucked, she wanted to cum and have some guy staring back at her with exactly the same thought in mind…Chibs seemed to fit the bill perfectly.

Jaci shifted to move closer to him and he pulled her up on top so that she was straddling his lap. He might have started the little make out session but she was definitely in the driver's seat now…literally. She held his face with both her hands as she leaned over and kissed him hard. He pushed her back for just a second. He started pushing her tank top up and mumbled, "Off."

She complied and pulled her shirt over her head and threw it to the deck floor. He ran his hands down her chest and squeezed one of her breast as he cradled her ass with his other, pushing her harder against him.

The taste of cigarettes and wine mingled on their tongues. Chibs didn't even try to kid himself into believing in that this was strictly consoling gone a bit too far on his part. If he was honest, he had viewed the Parker sisters in vary degrees of lust since they had rolled into town. But Vix was bat ass crazy and though he hated to admit it, he was getting too old to deal with that shite and she had become Juice's old lady pretty much instantaneously and thus off limits. But Jaci, she was on a whole other level... classy, sophisticated without being stuck up. He had forgotten about those lustful feelings until the other night when they had hung out at the salon by themselves. She had some baggage with Tig but that was the last thing on his mind right now. He had a hot ass half naked woman raring to go on his lap; _that _was his focus.

Jaci kept her eyes closed and her fingers deep in Chibs' hair, gripping it rather hard as she kissed him but he didn't seem to mind. She felt his hands roaming and kneading all over her. She pushed her hips down sharply against him and loved the hardness that she felt.

A muffled laugh came from Chibs when she ground down into him again. He remembered she hadn't been fucked in quite awhile and smiled, knowing she must be about to pop. He steadied himself with one hand on the arm of the wicker couch and wrapped an arm around her waist. He pushed his hips up hard between her legs. That move earned him a guttural moan from her so he kept up the movement.

"Fuuuuck." Jaci whispered. "Come on." They continued to kiss rapidly and push against each other as she pulled at his belt buckle. She worked on the button of his jeans as he teased her. The pressure felt so fuckin' good but it was such clumsy high school bullshit.

Chibs smirked and whispered hoarsely in her ear, "Need proper fucked heh?"

As her hand started on his zipper, he knew she was ready. He grabbed a hand full of her long hair and whispered again. "Fast and hard…is that what you want?" She let out a small moan as he bit her earlobe with his teeth. He laughed softly, "Oh we can do that. Fast and hard's my specialty. Make ya cum so hard you'll be wakin' the neighbors with your screamin' in a minute."

He wasn't gonna get much further with her on top of him without shucking some more clothes first and that needed to happen fast cause he was hard as a fucking rock. He cradled her in his arms and half stood with her just long enough to switch positions. He slammed her down on the couch on her back and crawled on top of her and that's when everything went wrong.

Jaci's head hit the arm of the couch a little hard than he intended and she grunted. As she reached up and grabbed his cut with her hands, her mind flashed back to the last night she had been with Tig on the deck, after Donna had been killed. The night Tig had been so fucked up he had nearly raped her on the very same couch. Chibs kept kissing her and started working on getting her jeans off as her mind jumped to Tig standing in her kitchen, a look of complete devastation on his face as he broke things off with her. She saw him as plain as day saying, _'I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.'_ Her mind rushed to more recent encounters with Tig, with him pissed off and screaming but that image of him still having a heart and saying he was sorry kept coming to the forefront.

She squeezed her eyes shut again and tried to pay attention to what Chibs was doing to her and unfortunately started comparing it all back to Tig. His kisses suddenly felt wrong, his tongue was darting around quick and shallow. She ran her hands over his chest and instead of feeling hard muscle; her fingers met a slightly more fleshy set of pecs.

Chibs felt a downshift in Jaci's urgency as he slid one hand down her bare ass. A second later she pushed against his chest. "Stop stop stop. Oh shit, we gotta stop." He pulled up off her in confusion and Jaci bolted out from under him.

Making out with Chibs had felt a lot like bailing off the Rock Crusher bluffs back home in Alabama. You would run and bail jump off the cliff and ride the adrenaline rush all the way down until you hit the water with a huge splash. Being under water was cool and peaceful but soon came that overwhelming feeling that you were gonna drown. You'd kick up out of the water and break the surface spitting and sputtering.

Jaci was doing a fine job of spitting and sputtering as she stumbled away from the couch, pulling her jeans back over her hips. "Ooh my god, I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I can't… we shouldn't be doing this."

Chibs just sat on the couch and rubbed his hands over his face as he blew out a breath, feeling like a bucket of ice water had just been thrown on him. "Shit."

She glanced around the deck and grabbed her shirt off the floor. She pulled it back over her head and started pacing, stealing nervous glances at Chibs as she walked. "What the hell were we thinking?"

"Uh…you were all upset; I was trying to make ya feel better." Chibs answered lamely.

"Oh shit, if anyone finds out about this..." Jaci said in a panicked voice. She looked to Chibs, "Are you gonna tell Tig?"

"Are you CRAZY?' He yelled in surprise and stood up. "I'm not saying shite!" The seriousness of what they had almost done came crashing down on Chibs. He had came dangerously close to fucking Tig Trager's ex. Granted, Jaci had never been Tig's old lady, so Chibs wasn't breaking any club rules but it was extremely fuckin' stupid anyway. Chibs started pacing alongside of Jaci.

He frowned at her. "Are YOU gonna tell him? Like to make him jealous?"

She shook her head violently. "No way! I don't give a shit about making him jealous...besides, I'd be in just as much trouble as you."

"I doubt that." Chibs mumbled as he pictured Tig freaking the fuck out if he found out that Chibs, his BROTHER in arms, had made a play for his ex.

They stood staring at each other for a moment and Chibs took her hand. "Ok, let's just chill the fuck out. We didn't…ah…_seal the deal_ so I think we're ok." He pulled her to the couch and they sat down awkwardly next to each other. A second later, Chibs scooted to the left, leaving more room between them, just for safety. "Look… I didn't PLAN on putting the moves on ya. You just got all pouty and upset and you actually look really fuckin' hot like that and the wrong head took over. And you...you're half drunk and probably just glad to have a guy bein' nice insteada screaming at ya. Coulda happened to anyone, right?"

Jaci cracked a smile listening to Chibs' straight forward explanation for their bad judgment. She had never seen him really nervous before and it was kind of cute. She took a deep breath and tried to calm down. She looked over at him and smiled. "Were you just gonna go for it on the back porch?"

Chibs grinned and shrugged. "I was goin' as far as you'd let me, didn't really give a shit about location." He cocked an eyebrow. "Why'd you stop? You thought about HIM?"

"Yeah." Jaci hung in her head in shame. "Grrrr! I have no clue WHY! We fuckin' hate each other these days. Why the hell does my brain pick NOW to think about him!"

He leaned back against the couch and rolled his head toward Jaci. "I've known Tigger for a lot of years and I know plenty of people that he HATES. He doesn't say a word to 'em, ignores them like they don't exist." He pointed a finger at her playfully. "With you...he goes out afta ya like a junkyard dog. That's not hate, luv...it's quite the opposite I think."

Jaci listened and snorted as she shook her head. "I WISH he'd ignore me."

"No ya don't. You could walk away from all his little hissy fits but you don't. You hang right in there." Chibs chided. "And _that _means you're not finished with each other."

"Well if he's so damn interested...why won't he just TALK to me?" Jaci asked as she waved her hand around the deck. "We used to spend HOURS just sitting out here talking."

"No shit? I just made out with you like on sacred ground or something?"

"Sorta."

"Mmph"' Chibs mused with a laugh. "Well you know as well as I do that his ego is a BIT inflated. He's Tig ByGod Trager. He's not gonna admit fault. He's probably waiting on you to make some moves."

Jaci rolled her eyes. "I got too much shit going on to be playing games with him."

"Uh huh." Chibs said disbelievingly. He was quiet for a moment as he grabbed his sunglasses and swung them around in his hand by an ear stem. Suddenly he grinned at her. "Sooo you mind if I extract all the thrill outta this night and dump all the awkwardness ... put this baby in the ol' file-o-fax in my noggin' for future use?"

She let out a little snicker of a laugh. "Did you just ask my permission to use me in your future masturbatory endeavors?"

"Masturbatory endeavors." Chibs chuckled. "That's got a bit of a ring to it…lot better than the 'whack off file', huh?"

"Knock yourself out, Chibsy."

He gave her leg a quick pat and stood up. "Well, I think I've done enough here."

She stood and looked at him shyly. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to get you all riled up and shut you down. I am NOT like that normally and…"

"Shhhh." Chibs smiled and hugged her like a brother would; knowing he never should have pushed for anything more with her. They were better as buddies. He whispered, "I got good brakes, luv. Good brakes." He kissed her forehead and walked back in the house. She walked him to the front door and he turned around on the stoop. "Guess I'll be seein' you tomorrow."

She frowned.

"Gemma's mandated a club showing at the open house…the salon." He explained.

"Damnit, I was hoping she'd nix that."

"Nope. ALL of us will be there with bells on." Chibs smiled. "But don't worry, luv…" He waved a hand between them. "THIS never happened." He winked at her and left.

Jaci shut the front door and leaned back against it. "I'm SUCH a cliché." But now she understood how people ended up drunk and hooking up with ex's friends after breakups, you both share that person and know their ways, you can both sympathize. And sympathy sometimes led to other…stuff. And hell, he was CHIBS, so it was sort of understandable. He was all quirky and oddly attractive and they had always liked each other but she was just thankful they had stopped before that friendship had been ruined.

She rubbed her head that was hurting, _again_ and frowned. She walked out to the deck and grabbed the nearly empty bottle of wine then padded into the kitchen. She gulped the last bit of wine and then turned to stare at the fridge. She opened its doors and started grabbing every bottle of booze in sight; tequila, wine, beer, and Midori from the fridge, Jager and vodka from the freezer. Next she rummaged through the cabinets and retrieved two bottles of whiskey. She lined up all the bottles in front of her and took a drink from each one. _Might as well add to the list of things I'm gonna regret in the morning._

_**XXX**_

Vix and Rachel finally came dragging into the house around 3am that morning. The house was dark and quiet except for their chattering about the salon's open house that they would be needing to wake up for in just a few hours. Vix flipped on the front hall light and made a beeline for the kitchen. She needed to down a bottle of water to make sure she wouldn't be hung over later. Rachel asked what time to set her alarm.

"Geez, I think we need up at like eight or so to start setting…" Vix stopped midsentence as she flipped on the kitchen light. Around fifteen bottles of liquor and beer sat line up perfectly on the kitchen counter.

Rachel followed her stare and snorted laughter. "Um….hello booze!"

"What the hell?" Vix frowned as she shook a few of the bottles, revealing them to be completely empty. The bottles struck her as half funny and half eerie. She shook her head in wonderment and then her stomach clenched. _Jaci_. Her sister had been stressed and bummed out lately, had been drinking way more than was normal for her and she had been alone all night. "Oh shit. Oh no…"

Vix turned and bolted out of the kitchen, slamming into Rachel and nearing knocking her down in the process. She ran for her sister's room, hollering down the hall way. "JACI!" She tried the door knob and thought for a moment it was locked but then realized she was just too excited to work the damn knob. She burst into the room and flipped on the light. "J? Jaci? Wake up!'

"Mmm?" Jaci rolled over in bed and groaned while squinting at the sudden influx of light, "Vix?"

'What happen with all the booze?" Vix shouted as she stood over her sister. "What did you do?'

Jaci was foggy with sleep and tried to comprehend what was going on. 'Wha? I.."

"Did you drink it? How much did you drink, J?" Vix asked frantically as she shook her sister with concern.

Jaci finally snapped to attention and shoved Vix away. "What? NONE...I poured it out."'

"Poured it OUT?' Vix exclaimed. "You didn't drink…why'd you do that for?"

"I don't need to be drinkin' anymore." Jaci explained as she sat up in bed."Remember what BB always says about drinking? _Bottle doesn't make ya do anything, it just lets ya?_ I was getting a little dependent, it was getting me in trouble. So I got rid of it."

"You scared the hell outta me!" Vix stood with her hands on her hips, staring dumbfounded at her sister. "Well shit. What about the rest of us, huh? What if WE want to drink?"

Jaci shook her head and laid back down. "I tried the whole 'drown your heartbreak in booze' thing, it doesn't work, sis. Besides you've got too much going on right now to become a booze hound...you'll end up like Last Call Larry." Jaci threw a pillow at Vix. "Go on...get out of here. I'm fine, I'm just tired."

Vix snarled at her sister and slammed the door shut. She wanted back down the hall to the living room where Rachel stood pacing anxiously. "Well? We need to take her to the ER for a stomach pump?"

"No...she didn't DRINK it, she poured it OUT." Vix slumped on the couch. "Looks like Parker Place has entered the goddamn Prohibition Era."

**To Be Continued…**


	8. Chapter 7, EX Games

****We know you've been patiently waiting for our time of updating… and suffering thru withdraw like you'd been thrown in SAMCRO Rehab, well as a testament of our LOVE and HONOR to our dear readers, we hope you'll sit back and enjoy an 8-ball of Parkers & SONS(and we don't mean the construction company LOL), on us – we don't want anyone to kick the addiction. **

**1****st**** the length – only start reading this if you have some time – it is over 40 pages – we apologize but this is one snippet of time in which a lot of crap happens and there was no where to break it off… we are afraid that the length will detract from good reviews (we hope not because we love hearing SPECIFICALLY what you liked or didn't)– or deter reading all together – but we hope this is not the case HA! It is only really 10 more pages then our normal EPIC LENGTH- and if you're gonna read 30, why not read 40 LOL!**

**2****nd**** – and as a chaser to the 8-ball – we give you new and or improved cast photos. To see our inspiration for **_**The 'Bama Crew**_** – and **_**The Olds**_**, check out our profile (at ff) or The Parker Family Photo Album link (on TN). Please note: Gramma Ruby has been re-cast, due to scheduling conflicts, stalled contract negotiations and creative differences. And we believe that Theo would be thrilled to have his noted "fav actress" cast in the role of his Gram. **

**Walk Away from the Son**

**Parker Sister Saga continues – Season 2 of SoA**

**Chapter 7- The Ex-Games**

**By BG and Reaper**

Roxy Parker pulled her Chrysler Crossfire SRT-6 Convertible to a stop in front of the club house of the 'bama SoA crew. She killed the engine, silencing Mary Hopkins mid-song, but Roxy continued singing as she crossed the parking lot. "_Those were the days my friend... we thought they'd never end... we'd sing and dance forever and a day... we'd live the life we chose... we'd fight and never lose... those were the days... oh, yes, those were the days.."_ She pressed her thumb into the digital scanner until she heard the door lock click open. She pushed thru the door, "_la la la la ... la la ... la la la la... la la ... la la la laaaaa."_

Trace Cope and BB Parker turned around at the sound of Roxy's blissful voice. Trace chuckled. "Somebody's Ol' Lady is extremely chipper. Now we know the real reason you was late in showin' up this morning." The tall biker nudged his friend with a grin.

BB shook his head, "I'd like to take credit... but her mood ain't got shit to do with me."

"Hey boys. Nolan around?" Roxy stopped singing and shot them a smile.

BB jutted his chin towards the door on the far side of the main room."He's in there workin' on that video... feed… hook-up… email...whateverthefuck thing's gonna _beam_ you to Charming this afternoon."

Trace suddenly realized what had Roxy in such an over-the-moon good mood. "Today is Vix's Grand Opening, right?"

"Yes it is., and knowing how very much I wanted to be there, Nolan, bless his technologically gifted soul, figured out a way to let me see and hear what is going on. I can talk at 'em and everything."

From where he was laying on a couch nearby reading the latest edition of _Guns and Ammo,_ Bodie Hogan quipped, "He's hookin' up a web-cam, it ain't the partin' of the Red Sea or nothing.'"

Roxy walked past and swatted the younger man on the head, "If I get to _be there_ for my Baby Girl's big debut, it's miracle enough for me. Nolan will rank right up there with BB, Elvis, Hank Williams, The Lord and Bear Bryant. Besides you're sittin' here undercuttin' his abilities when you're the first damn one to go a runnin' to him when you can't work your fancy mobile phone."

The door across the room opened up and the youngest patched member of the 'Bama crew stepped out with a smile. Nolan was the Southern answer for Juice. He wasn't a genius or anything, more a bullridin', quick to fight, hardheaded Southern boy that happened to be pretty smart when it came to techno stuff. Nolan was the high-tech equivalent of the guy you'd want in the bunker next to you when the shooting started. He doesn't exactly SOLVE technical problems... he's more apt to stare at them until they come out with their hands up. For all those reasons and being he was blessed with the surname _DUMASSE_, he was dubbed _DUMBASS_ by the 'bama crew. The nickname was ironic in nature and warmly bestowed. Nolan liked to quip that the moniker made him a better person ,to constantly be called that and not be tempted to leave a trail of dead bodies in his wake.

Roxy eyed him. "Give Mama some good news."

Nolan nodded, "Locked and loaded, ma'am."

Roxy let out a whoop. "Thank you very much! Well alright then… um, would one of you boys go fetch the box outta my car. Vix sent us a care package."

XXX

"Do you think we're gonna have enough food and stuff?" Vix asked, eyeing the buffet table.

"There's plenty. Don't worry!" Rachel assured, patting Vix on the shoulder. "You're only feeding them as a gesture of hospitality. People aren't coming here to eat."

Vix nodded. "You're right. They're here to check the place out, see what we have to offer and …" Her words died in her throat as the distinct sound of a Harley was heard riding down Main Street. Moments later her heart clenched at the sight of Juice riding by. Once he was gone from view, she glanced at her friend. "Suddenly this town seems so small."

Rachel watched as Vix drew an uneasy breath. "You'll be ok, girl."

Vix smiled for her friend's benefit and nodded. "I have to be. I got all my resources tied up in this place and a good chunk of my sister's, too. The last thing I can afford to do is worry on about his dumb ass. Well to be honest, the LAST THING I can afford is a rental car … to drive off a cliff in IF this little venture of mine don't pan out."

Rachel snickered at Vix's little joke but saw a flash of something in her friend's eyes that worried her.

They turned around at the sound of footsteps and found Jaci approaching, clipboard in hand. "Alrighty let's see…" She began reading down the list in her hand until she heard Vix draw a ragged breath. Jaci glanced up in time to see her sister try to smile and only succeed in opening a flood gate of tears.

Rachel cleared her throat. "Um, give her a minute or two. Asshat just rode past."

Vix wiped her tears away, "I.. .I'm fine and please don't call him that. It'd be much better all around if we just didn't even discuss or mention him, ok? Can we do that? Starting... Now!"

"I'm not a big fan of _Denial, _but I've been there." Rachel shrugged.

Jaci grimaced, "I'm thinkin' that THAT is gonna be easier in concept than in practice. I heard through the grapevine that Gemma has mandated a club wide appearance here today."

Vix's mouth droped open. "Clubwide? You mean everydamnbody? Jesus H. Christ!"

" I know...I KNOW! " Jaci held her hand up. "It's a bad idea but Gemma's trying to be supportive of this salon and YOU. So we're all gonna just smile and keep our mouths shut and play nice. _Kill 'em with kindness_ like Roxy would say."

Vix knitted her brow and was about to speak but Jaci held up her hand, "First lesson in business, baby girl, sometimes you have to do shit you don't want to."

Vix groaned. "Bobby really should have given me a bigger heads up about this!"

"I didn't actually hear it from Bobby. Gemma mentioned it the other day when I ran into her at the A&P, but I didn't think she'd really DO IT. And um, Chibs actually came by last night to give me a heads up..." Jaci explained.

Vix's eyebrows raised. "And you TALKED to him?"

"Well...he came by to apologize for his part in the whole... um, Connor debacle, too. And yeah, I made peace with the enemy so to speak.' Jaci replied, thinking to herself _I made more than peace with him. HA!_

"He apologizes to YOU? Where's MY motherfuckin' apology?"

"I think he's still a little scared of you. Didn't want his arse handed to him, I think were his exact words."

"Hmph!" Vix muttered with her arms now crossed over her chest.

Jaci rolled her eyes, thankful at least that her sister was no longer weeping. Pissed off Vix could at least be productive… sad, sobbing Vix, not so much. "Whatever...just know that he's sorry and knows he was wrong. And when the time is right, he wants to help patch shit up between you and Juice."

"WHATEV!" Vix growled and waved her hand as she headed out the front door to check on the progress outside. She was met by a kid about nineteen or so wearing a ball cap and a polo shirt that proclaimed him to be an employee of _Charming Bobbles____n Blooms_.

"I have a delivery for J or V Parker."

Vix eyed the items he was holding, a long, slim flower box and package in the unmistakable shape of a bottle of booze. She smiled. "The V be me." She reached in her jeans pocket and pulled out a crumpled wad of bills. Peeling a few off, she exchanged them for the packages. "Thanks."

She took the packages back inside the salon. "J! Somebody is showing us some love."

"Huh?" Jaci walked back into the main room of the salon and watched Vix sitting packages on the front desk and began opening the wrapping off the one shaped like a bottle. "Who is that from?" Her sister just shrugged so Jaci found the card attached to the box of flowers.

_To the fabulous Parker sisters,_

_Sorry that I can't be there to share in the festivities._

_I have every confidence your salon will be a great success. _

_Congratulations on your Grand Opening._

_J. Rosen_

"Well that was very nice of him." Jaci remarked.

Vix rolled her eyes. "Obviously THIS is for you." She held out a bottle of Marco Negri wine, "I don't drink that shit… guess he don't know you're on the wagon." She eyed the flower box, "What kinda flowers did we get?"

Jaci gingerly slid the ribbon off the box and lifted the lid. The girls both peered inside. Vix let out a low whistle. "'I'ma thinkin' ALL this stuff is for YOU, sis. My name was just an afterthought."

As she looked over the stuff: a dozen, long-stemmed red roses and a bottle of her favorite wine, Jaci was sorta thinking the same thing. She shrugged.

"Lawyer's tryin to get in your paaaants." Vix began teasing in a sing-songy voice.

"Knock it off, dork." Jaci smiled with embarrassment and shoved at her sister. But in reality, J was thinking she needed to thank Rosen simply for the fact that his gift made Vix smile for a moment.

_**XXX**_

As Juice had ridden by **Twisted Scissors,** he'd had to make a conscious effort to keep his eyes focused on the road in front of him. Despite his best efforts at _not giving a shit_, part of his brain had taken notice of the bevy of activity taking place. A crew from _Party Toppers _was erecting a large white tent over the salon's entrance and private 8-car parking pad. Vix's Charger, still bearing the dented fender compliments of Polly Zoebell, and Jaci's Mustang were parked on the opposite side of the street. He hadn't seen either Parker, but the inevitability of that would be short lived considering the mandate handed down by Clay at Church the night before. Juice had woken up in a dorm at the club house to the feelings of impending doom and claustrophobia descending upon him. He busted outta there real quick.

He pulled to a stop in the lot at Bryony Apartments. He didn't want to stop, though… he wanted to keep riding, outta the town, outta the county, outta the state, offa the goddamn planet… but nowhere seemed far enough. _You can't outrun what's inside of you. _And deny as he might, bits of Vix remained with him, large bits. He hadn't been successful at drinking her away, although the fact that he needed his entire next paycheck to cover his alcohol tab at the clubhouse was proof positive that he had tried his hardest.

Nor had his banging random chicks, every night for the first week she'd been gone, had any effect other than to make him realize he was mostly monogamous by nature. Even his settling on just one of Luann's chicks for the last week and a half did nothing to diminish Vix's memory. If he let himself be honest with himself – all of his crazy attempts to shake her lose had only made her harder to forget. He'd constantly find himself comparing every girl and every act, sexual and not, to _The Vix Standard_. NOTHING he found even came close, sometimes to the point of desperate annoying hilarity. And he was seriously getting pissed off.

He was sitting on his bike, lost in thought when it finally registered that someone was calling his name. He snapped to attention and saw his grandma standing on the sidewalk in front of him. "Hey, Gram" He said making his greeting sound far brighter than he felt.

She nodded, "Jean Carlos." She studied his haggard appearance. She could see the hurt in his eyes and noticed that he'd bit his finger nails down to the nail beds – more than a few of his finger tips sported band aids. She knew he was miserable since his good sense had jumped the tracks and he'd ended things with Victoria. Ruby wasn't one to kick a dog when it's down. Spiritually, she was all about turning the other cheek, and she really tried to live by that, however, at present, the game was afoot. She stared at her grandson and asked "You will be attending the Grand Opening, will you not?"

"I'm trying not to." He grumbled, climbing off his bike.

Ruby tossed down the dish towel she'd been holding in her hands. It hit the pavement like a gauntlet. She reared her head back and tore into him, "Young Man! I will slap those tattoos off your bloody head if you aren't present. You and I both know that that girl undertook ALL of this FOR YOU! Trying to make a life for herself HERE… where YOU ARE. And the way you've been acting and treating her it's a wonder why she'd even bother."

"Broken fuckin' record." Juice mumbled a bit too loudly.

Ruby cocked her head and narrowed her eyes, "Excuse me?"

"All I'm hearing from everybody is how I fucked shit up… what about her?"

"What did Victoria do?" Ruby questioned incredulously.

Juice smirked and laughed "Yeah, I guess THAT little tidbit failed to get mentioned in the Gossip Gazzette. Vix ain't an angel, Gram. Rreally hate to burst your bubble on that one."

"That will be about enough!" came Henry Darling's voice, with an edge and quality about it he rarely used but had mastered over his years on the law bench.

They both looked over to find Henry standing a few feet away, leaning on his cane. Juice eyed the cane, not putting it past Henry to whack him over the head with it. He threw up his hands in surrender, took three steps backwards and started for the building with forceful anger building strides. He ran up the stairs to the third floor of the building and into his apartment then stopped dead in the middle of his living room. He hadn't set foot in his place since the day he'd hauled Vix's shit out of it. Her belongings may have been gone but she was still there. The air smelled like her- a potent mixture of her perfume, hairspray, shampoo, lotion, to the point it choked him. He walked over and began pushing windows open as wide as they'd go.

He shook his head to get a grip and when he stopped his eyes landed something of hers he'd forgotten to grab then leapfrogged to yet another piece of her. He stormed into the kitchen and threw open the refrigerator, hastily reaching inside for a beer, his hand knocked over yogurt cups that belonged to HER. He retracted his hand like it had been burnt. Slamming the door shut, he was greeted by a snapshot of the two of them, encased in a magnetic frame, taken by her aunt while Vix was recovering from her ruptured appendix. It felt like his eyes were being burnt out of his head just by staring at it… until he realized the burning was coming from the tears brimming in them. He pulled the picture off the fridge and stared at it: Vix wrapped up in his arms; he'd been so glad she'd made it thru… the relief on his face was as apparent as the hopefulness and the affection. Vix's smile was genuine and relaxed. Juice sunk down to the floor and sitting with his back against the wall… he let the tears come.

He was still sitting on the kitchen floor an hour later when a pounding on his door followed by Chibs hollering "Juice, where the hell are ya, boyo?" snapped him out of his little trip down Memory Lane. Juice looked up to see Chibs standing in the entrance to the kitchen staring down at him.

Eyeing the kid and the empty beer bottles that litter the floor around him, Chibs deflected his worry by stating the obvious, "You look like shit, brother." After getting no reply, he continued, "Well, good thing I came early, grab a quick shower and make yourself presentable. I'm your party date… so smell good."

Juice groaned, "No way out of it huh? I ain't having a good day."

Chibs laughed. "Is there ever a good day to watch an ex's dream come true?"

_**XXX**_

Clay saw Gemma exiting the office at TM. She was wearing a _TWISTED_ _SCISSORS_ t-shirt and a determined look. She smiled when she reached where he was standing. "Hey, darlin'."

He nodded. "Nice shirt."

"They are! Aren't they?" She ran her hands over her attire in a smooth down gesture. "High quality shit. You know Lowell helped with the logo design, apparently he's pretty gifted at graphics."

"So I heard. And I just thought he was first-rate fuck up and a half-assed mechanic. Who knew?" Clay replied sarcastically. "I'm guessing that the snarky tag line on the back is Vix's brainchild."

Gemma grinned. "_We've Upped the Beauty Standards… So Up Yours! _ Yeah, that's ALL Vix. And you gave one to each of the guys?"

"They have 'em… handed them out at Church last night. Now, if they wear 'em is another matter." Clay said with a roll of his eyes. "Tig's already ADAMANTLY refused". At the sight of Gemma narrowing her eyes, Clay warned, "Lose the ice glares! I handed down the attendance mandate. That's as far as I'm taking shit. And mostly I did it to be in the face of Zoebell and his White Power whack jobs. Show SAMCRO's proud support of local business, parade US up and down Main Street. But it will be a cold day in Hell when I get involved in what my guys wear UNDER their cuts."

Gemma smiled sweetly at her husband, "I'm not asking you to be Clinton Kelly." She leaned over and planeds a kiss on his lips.

"Good, cause I don't know who the fuck Clinton Kelly is."

Gemma laughed. "I'm heading over, see if the girls need any help. You and the guys roll on over in an hour or so. ALL the guys!"

"We'll be there." He watched her walk towards the SUV she'd been driving since wrecking her car. "Hey, Matchmaker… what're you gonna do when your little plan of slammin' people together who don't want to be, backfires?" He shook his head. "Don't come cryin' to me when some ones needs glass shards or buck shot dug outta their ass."

_**XXX**_

Piney knocked once and then opened the door, walking into his son's house. He found Ellie sitting in the living room looking irritated and staring mindlessly at the television. "How's it going princess?"

Ellie glanced over at her grandpa. "I don't wanna be a princess, they don't have any real power or say so, they're really just window dressing. All the decisions are made by the governing body of parliament."

"You know, if you weren't the spitting image of your dad, I'd wonder who the hell your real family was." Piney chuckled and shook his head. "You all ready for Vix's big opening party?"

"I've been ready for THREE HOURS. But Dad's dealing with Kenny and I'm _cooling my heels_. Sitting here figuring out how many ways _Dora the Explorer_ could die."

Taking a deep breath off his oxygen tube, Piney eyed his granddaughter and stood up out of the chair he'd sat in just as a disturbed looking Opie and a visibly upset Kenny entered the living room.

Ellie jumped up. "Can we go now? Please?"

Opie up-nodded to Piney. "Hey, Pop." He saw his dad eye Kenny and added, "Don't ask."

Piney nodded. "I'm learnin' it's better not to. We better get this one over to Vix's before she doing twenty five to life for murdering the muppets."

"What are the muppets?" Kenny asked.

"A puppet show. Maybe you can _Google_ 'em next year when you're done being grounded off the computer." Op retorted. Ellie began tapping her foot. Opie ran a hand over his face. "Yes Ellie, let's go."

The girl's face broke out in a mega-watt smile. She took three steps and then turned around, "Gramps, you got Vix's present, right?"

Piney nodded. The kids rushed out the door but he held Opie back, "What's up with Kenny?"

"Mom found Kenny looking at porn on the computer."

Piney laughed "Really? You write down the name of the website?"

"Pop, please… I can't deal with this shit. Ellie says in nature fathers are known to eat their young. And I'm not saying that I condone eating your kids but I sure as HELL can understand WHY they do it."

"Calm down. Christ, at his age you and Jax were tearin' pictures outta my stash of girly mags. How bad was it? The porn?"

"Pictures of a topless girl sittin' on a tractor." Opie shook his head.

"That ain't porn, son. That's a cereal commercial on the Spanish Channel."

"I know Pop. We got worse hanging around down at work on the walls and in the parking lot but you know how crazy the laws are these days. Last thing I need is child corruption on my record. And just when did you start watching the Spanish channel?"

Piney grinned. "Since I found out they got half-naked lesbians making out to get you to buy orange juice."

The sounds of a car horn were heard from outside. Opie groaned, grabbed his cut off the dining room chair and layered it on over his _TWISTED_ _SCISSORS _t-shirt.

_**XXX**_

Numerous attendees were milling around the Open House and the general consensus was that the Parker sisters had done a fabulous job remodeling and modernizing the salon. Gone was the "Granny's kitchen" feel of SNIPS, replaced by a very modern, sleek spa-like atmosphere. The main room boasted a small reception area with overstuffed chairs and a desk. A flat screen TV was mounted on the wall and wass currently tuned to a blacked out music channel. Four hair cutting stations, two nail stations and two ultra-luxurious pedicure chairs took up much of the rest of the space, along with two shampoo sinks partitioned off by a half-wall that's top was fitted with a planter of Japanese bamboo plants, adding to the Zen-feel of the place.

There was a small hall leading off the main salon space where the rest room, a private room designated for waxing procedures, another with the kitchenette/break room and a large supply closet were found. In the back corner of the main room was a staircase leading to the second floor where three small rooms housed a traditional "lay down" tanning beds and another held the "stand up" tanning booth. Another "yet to be occupied" space, a rest room, and Vix's office were also located upstairs.

The building had an eight car parking pad out front and a patio/stoop-like set up located directly out the back door on the main level. Vix had badgered Eve into including the antique wrought-iron bistro table set in the purchase price, so that along with a few oversized planters that Eve had also felt better suited for Cali climate than Colorado, adorned the outdoor space.

"Don't think I'm bad mouthing Charming when I say this but this salon don't even feel like it belongs in this P_odunk_ berg." Luann Delaney whispered to Gemma as the two walked around. "I keep thinking I should be able to look outside and see _Rodeo Drive_ or some shit."

"Mmm hmm." Gemma replied. "Well I'm not sure _Angelina_ or _Brad _will be stopping by and apparently neither will Margie and a few of her cronies. You know Vix is gonna need ALL of SNIPS original clientele and then some to make this place fly."

Luann caught the undertone in Gemma's statement and held up her hand, "I've never had any luck at persuading my mother and apparently she don't trust Vix." Seeing that Gemma was really not interested in an excuse as much as a plan to rectify the slight, Luann continued. "However, I think I can more than make up for that potential lost revenue by steering my girls in her direction."

"Good!" Gemma nodded. "Everyone but the brunette Juice's been nailin'. We don't want any unfortunate scissor accidents."

"Which one is he tappin'?"

"Like I know their names." Gemma rolled her eyes. "Long brown hair, big doe eyes, apparently she hangs around with that blonde bitch who's after Jax."

Luann thought for a second. "Tiffany." She sighed. "No shit? That bitch is such a follower, taking her cue from Ima's lead. She'd be happy landin' a SON, regardless of totem pole order but the other one…now she'd be gunnin' for a big dawg."

"Both those bitches need to watch their step or _GUN_ will be the optimumword." Gemma warned.

Luann nodded, "I still can't believe what went down between Vix and Jui.…" Luann stopped mid-word and smiled as Vix walked up to them. "This place looks great, baby!"

Vix smiled and accepted the half- hug and cheek kisses from the two women. "Thanks. Still not quite believing we pulled it off and are officially opening."

Suddenly the sound of a large group of Harleys arriving on the scene could be heard. Vix glanced uneasy at Gemma and Luann and then excused herself and walked quickly to her sister's side. The Parker girls looked up and saw the SONS arriving enmasse. Vix hung her head for just a minute, "Never thought that sounds would make me want to hurl. I don't think I can stand to see him… you know in the same room."

Jaci laid her hand on her sister's arm. "You can and you will. Cause look what the cat drug in." She nodded to where Juice was parking his bike.

Vix shot a slight glare in the direction of Gemma. "Big goddamn motherfuckin' cat."

"Deep breaths, Vix. Happy faces on, kill the bastards with kindness, never let 'em see you cry." Jaci offered. "Besides, it's time to flip on the 'Bama cam and I know you ain't told the folks back home bout you and Juice and today ain't exactly the time for all that."

"I know." Vix replied with a sigh.

From where she was standing next to Luann, Gemma watched the Parkers closely,as the SONS arrived on the scene. She was proud of both girls for how quickly they steeled their resolve. She also had taken note that both girls were clad in tight blue jeans and a slightly different version of the TWISTED t-shirt, theirs had a vintage look to it. Apparently the sisters we're going for the: _eat your heart out_ reaction from their ex's. Gemma was pretty sure they'd get it.

_**XXX**_

Under the tent out front of the salon, four girls from Vix's school were setting up massage chairs and tables. The SONS parked their bikes across the street. Half Sack spotted the massage chicks and looked over at Bobby's TWISTED t-shirt. He read off the list of services. "Hair, Nails, Tanning, Waxing, Makeup...no mention of massages."

Bobby ran his hands over his curly locks in an attempt to smooth them after having crammed them into a helmet, "Acordin' to Jaci, a few of the girls Vix knows from school need to clock some public service hours for their Massage Therapist degrees. So in an attempt to kill two birds with the same stone, Vix's getting the girls their hours and test marketing to see how massages go over in this town."

"The girls are cute." Half Sack mused "They could probably turn a good profit."

Bobby eyed Chibs who had now spotted the girls and watched as he slapped Happy on the shoulder and pointed them out to him. Their words wafted over, "Ooooh, brother, I'm startin' to like this mandated appearance." Bobby just shook his head.

Tig, who'd met up with the SONS entourage enroute after taking care of some personal shit, glanced around and saw that practically all the guys were wearin' Vix's t-shirt. Glancing to his left, his jaw dropped open. He called out, "HAPPY? What the fuck?"

Hap looked over at him. "What?"

"You too? The shirt's fuckin' pink, man."

"Um, it's mostly black, only the design and lettering is pink." The Prospect pointed out.

"Shut the fuck up, Sack. It's goddamn fag-ish, wearin' pink." Tig growled.

"You questionin' my manhood, bro?"Hap smiled.

Tig smirked back. "Who in their right mind would do that?"

"Hhmph!" Hap snorted and then in his gravelly voice he offered, "I like Vix. She's cool so I'll support her business. Getting' free shit don't hurt either. Ain't got around to doin' my wash this week."

Tig stood with his hands on his hips. Clay eyed him. "What now?"

"Nothin'… just in awe, man." Tig shook his head. "Maybe we should officially change our colors to Hot Pink and Purple, start callin' ourselves the _DAUGHTERS of Anarchy_. I mean seein' as how, besides you, I'm the ONLY one man enough NOT to be caught dead in that fuckin' shirt." Tig saw Juice standing towards the back of the group, "Nah! I'm wrong. My man Juice back there, another hold out. Kudos, man… for havin' balls!"

"Oh! I got balls brother! Wanna see 'em?" Chibs roared, clenching his cigarette in his teeth and goin' for his belt buckle.

"Nah, Chibsy." Tig said with a grin. "Well… maybe later."

Clay stared at his SAA, "Knock it off. It's a goddamn t-shirt, not a gay marriage proposal. But you've made your point. You gonna behave now?"

"Probably not. The _honor_ of my presence was DEMANDED… no one said shit about me havin' to bring my good manners as a date." Tig replied.

"Let's get this over with." Clay groaned, knowing this was likely gonna turn out bad. He felt like General Custer at Little Big Horn.

As the SONS made their way across the street towards the salon party, Tig saw a group of Henry Darling and the rest of The Olds engrossed in the festivities and all clad in _the shirt_. With a smirk he nodded to the old man, "Hey, Darling, love the shirt."

Henry smiled at the sarcasm he heard dripping off the biker's words. "Would you also love my cane rammed up your ass, Trager?"

Tig shrugged. "Maybe."

Henry shook his head and wandered over to where Ruby, Sadie and Milly were in discussion with some ladies they knew from St. Barnibus.

"I am praying so hard that this little venture works out for Vix. She's worked so hard." He heard one of the women say. There were so many in Ruby's crazy circle of friends he had trouble keeping track. The head nods and murmurs of agreement made Henry have to stifle a laugh. These ladies were a loyal bunch and tenacious as they came, yet they all seemed to have come to adore Vix Parker/ Well, after they got past her flamboyant spirit, funky attitude and outlandish appearance.

He spotted Juice making a bee-line for a secluded corner and laughed.

"I've asked Father Carlin to add Vix and the salon to the prayer list." Sadie remarked.

"Yeah, how'd that go over?" Milly questioned.

"He laughed and said Vix could probably stand a little divine intervention."

Milly let out a laugh. "Yeah I reckon she could use some assistance where _he's_ concerened."' She nodded over towards where Juice was standing in the corner. "Can't believe he actually showed up. What'd you threaten him with, Ruby?"

"Oh I never threaten, dear. Jean is very good at taking hints." Ruby said with a smile

Henry laughed as he took Ruby by the arm and led her inside the salon to check out the girls' handiwork. He asked just for her hearing, "And your offer to remove his head tattoos, that was….?"

Ruby nodded. "Just a HINT, Henry."

_**XXX**_

Tig glanced over and watched Opie walking up to the group. Tig shook his head, "Op, man?" He gestured disappointedly towards the shirt.

Opie smiled and shrugged, "Wearin' it to make Ellie happy so at least one of my kids is smilin' today. Vix has done a lotta shit for my family, least I could do."

Ellie was suddenly at her dad's side, "Come on Dad. I found Vix. We gotta go give her her present before things get crazy."

"Little late for that." Opie uttered, nodded to Tig and followed after Ellie as she wandered through the crowd.

_**XXX**_

Gemma caught Juice standing off to the one side of the salon, practically in the corner. She wandered over to him. "Good of you to come."

"Like I had a choice." He deadpanned.

"You always got a choice, baby." Gemma replied with a smile.

"Yeah right, I know the definition of mandate." He grumbled.

"Well change your name to Merriam Webster, definition boy. Nobody put a gun to your head… made you come. It was _highly suggested _and being as smart as you claim to be, you know the importance of doing what is suggested. Come and support the family or stay away and feel our wrath. It may not be a choice you like, but it WAS a choice." She smiled at him, "I'm glad you made the right one, baby. Looks like Ruby is wanting a word."

_I am sure she's wanting more than one_ he thought to himself as Gemma walked away and he turned to see his grandma standing there. "Hey, Gram."

"Jean Carlos." Ruby said. "I'm glad to see you've come to support Victoria. Jaci gave me a slew of magnets advertising the salon. I'm going to hand then out at my church clubs. The gals and I just love the shirts. I've noticed that most of your friends are wearing them…" She stared at him, her unspoken remark regarding his attire hung heavy on the air.

"I'm here! Aint' that enough with the cruel and unusual?" He remarked but after receiving a stern look in response, Juice shook his head and muttered incoherently to himself as he walked across the crowded room to the display case in the corner of the salon. He slid open the glass door and grabbed one of the folded t-shirts from inside. And then standing in the middle of the Grand Opening party, with no regard to the present company of friends and strangers, he tugged off the shirt he was wearing.

_**XXX**_

"_I'm a Beautician ... NOT a Magician!" _Vix read the saying painted on the home made sign that The Winston Family had gifted her. "Awww, guys… this is so great! Thank you!" She hugged each one of them.

Ellie beamed. "So you really like it? I thought you would, it's our inside joke, right?"

"That it is, sweetie." Vix hugged the girl again. "And YES! I love it. Tomorrow, I'm gonna hang this sucker right on the wall next to my station."

She glanced over at her station at the precise moment that Juice was in mid-t-shirt swap. She stood shocked at the sight of her ex, standing shirtless in the middle of her salon's Grand Opening gala. She stared at him:

½ of her was pissed off – _this is her place of business, what the hell?_

¼ of her was heartbroken – _she knew how it felt to be in those arms, knew the contours of that chest, the scar from being stabbed in the ribs at age 7, when he used to live in the projects of San Francisco. He'd covered the scar with a small tattoo, his first ink job. The thought of never being that close to him again was awful_

And ¼ of her was completely turned on at the sight of him. _He may be an asshole but he was smokin' hott._

Juice tugged the TWISTED t-shirt over his head and gave his Gram a _are you happy now?_ look. He glanced straight ahead and found Vix standing there staring at him. The pair locked eyes for a moment and then abruptly turned and headed off in opposite directions at exactly the same time.

_**XXX**_

Most of the guys took to milling around the salon, checking things out. Jaci eyed them with caution, to her they looked like a bunch of bulls in a china closet, swarming all over the place. But then just like with little kids, when things went quiet and you couldn't get a visual on what they were up to, the worrying sat in. She was just waiting for one of them to break something.

Upstais, Tig mused, "'I've always wanted to fuck a chick in one of those."

Hap eyed the tanning bed in the room they were currently inspecting, "Don't think that'd be too comfy, bro."

Tig shrugged, "Try it out."

Hap pushed the lid open on the bed and laid down. He rocked his hips a few times then grimaced. "Kinda hard. You lay down and close the lid... kinda feels like a coffin."

Tig stares at Hap and then at the tanning bed and smirked. "What's so wrong with that?" Hap gave him an odd look and Tig shrugged. "Well, shit, scratch that off the nookie list."

"The _ends_ would certainly justify the _means_, bro." Hap teased. "Give a whole new meaning to a _hot ass_ hook-up." He chuckled with his gravely voice.

"Jesus Christ… don't break any of those bulbs." Opie's voice boomed from the doorway. "Heard Vix say they cost like thirty bucks a pop and each bed needs like forty of 'em."

Meanwhile, Chibs had similar thoughts in mind as he checked out the lone upright tanning booth at the end of the hall. He contemplated the logistics of getting a tan whilst getting some ass. He grinned devilishly at noticing the overhead handles. _Ah, even comes complete with a leverage bar. _He stood inside the booth and reached up and grabbed hold of the bar and started to wiggling around. _Hmph!__ Needs a test run._ He peeked out the door and yelled, "Hey Tigger! Come here, bro."

"$1200 bucks in light bulbs? That's just fuckin' retarded." Tig said as he started to walk in the direction of Chibs' voice.

"That's for each bed too." Opie clarified.

Shaking his head, Tig glanced at the tanning booth and then turned back to face Op. "Check this shit out."

Before Tig knew what was going on, he heard Chibs say, "Oh yeah! Perfect, that's it… back that ass up!" Chibs held himself in place with the arm bar and kicked out, wrapping his legs around Tig and pulling him backwards, all the while thrusting at him in a simulation of a hook up.

"What the …"? Tig exclaimed and went to squirming his way out of the Scot's leg grasp. He shoved Chibs away and took a few steps out of range. "Fuck you, Chibsy! Fuckin' faggot."

Chibs laughed, "That's what I was tryin' to do, brother."

All but Tig were wearing huge smiles and laughing their asses off. Tig jabbed a finger at the crew. "Not a word or you're all dead."

From behind the group, Clay's voice questioned, "I guess asking if you're behaving yourselves would qualify as a stupid question. Do I even what to know what's going on?"

"Chibs just dry humped Tig in the tanning booth." Opie happily informed Clay.

"Fuck you, Op." Tig countered.

"Not really my type, Tig." Opie replied with a huge smile.

"Ok, ok." Clay admonished. "Zobelle and his lot have taken quite an interest in this little party. Weston is camped outside the cigar shop, time to let our presence be known."

The men nodded and headed down stairs to take care of the _real_ business of the day. Everyone in the salon turned to see the crew tromp down the stairs and head for the exit. Juice and Half Sack watched the guys walk past and joined the group heading out the front door.

Jaci and Vix looked at each other as they were standing at the front desk. The guys walked past them without so much as a look. The youngest Parker sister cocked an eyebrow. "Well that was quick. I can handle that."

"That was a total waste of time if they're really leaving. Get us all bent out of shape…" Jaci commented as she walked around the counter to glance out onto the sidewalk. She saw the guys huddled in a group staring across the street. Her eyes followed their glares and landed on a group of men outside the Impeccable Smokes shop. "Oh, nevermind. It's not an exit…it's a pissing contest."

Vix ducked around her sister's shoulder and took a good look at the scene. "Jesus Christ. I don't have time for this shit." She turned and walked back deep into the interior of the salon. Jaci shook her head and followed her sister.

_**XXX**_

Zobelle and Weston had watched earlier as the Sons had rolled up in mass and swarmed inside the salon. Now they watched as the bikers stood in a group outside the salon. "Well, we certainly do not have to guess about how deep those affliations run, do we?'

"Just like we saw at their clubhouse a while back." Weston agreed with a nod. "The weird blonde one is banging the beaner, her sister is fronting the money for the salon, Sons are probably kicking in too.' 

"'Mmmm." Zobelle sighed as he watched Clay Morrow fire up a cigar and smirk in their direction.

The Sons all shot icy glares in the direction of the LOAN members. Op crossed his arms as he grimaced. "What do you think they're saying?"

Tig snorted. "Wondering how you go so ugly." His comment made the other guys crack up. Clay smiled that cocky smile of his, his eyes never leaving their lock on Zobelle.

Weston watched the bikers laugh and smirk and he narrowed his eyes in utter disgust and hate. He glanced over at his boss. "So what do we do about it?"

Zobelle cocked an eyebrow. "To be determined." He plastered a slimy smile on his face and waved at Clay before walking back inside the cigar shop. Clay finger waved back, Happy and Tig flipped up their middle fingers and grinned. Weston frowned slightly. He was a man of ACTION, the hurry up and wait directives were getting old. Their one and only direct and violent act of attacking Gemma Morrow had netted zero results. Weston was anxious for resolution with the Sons…to just get on with it already. He blew out a frustrated breath and went back inside the shop. 

_**XXX**_

Vix had started up the hall in an attempt at gaining a moment of solitude. She'd just reached the door to the break room when she heard Chibs' piss-poor attempt at English. "Hey Vixy... hows it goin'?"

"Don't think that little Sharks vs Jets stare down y'all had going on out front escaped my notice." She mumbled.

"What? We all just needed some fresh air." Chibs offered. He watched her roll her eyes and smirk, "So how's it goin'?" he asked again.

Vix glared at him. "Does it even matter what I actually say? You and your lot will just twist it to serve your purposes."

"Ouch! Got me in the heart, luv." Chibs replied, grabbing at his chestdramatically.

"Well shit my aim must be off. I was gunnin' for the family jewels."

"Come on darling…I'm tryin' to say _sorry. _Even sportin' your shirt… pink fuckin' letterin' and all." He held open his cut to show her.

Vix eyed him. That damn accent of his and the way he butchered the shit outta most words, along with that mischievous grin made it hard to hate him.

He read her internal struggle at trying to remain angry at him and smiled. "Come luv, you can't stay mad at me. I'm wrong and I admit it and THAT takes a BIG man... not big like ya know." He puffed out his cheeks in an attempt to illustrate a person of large stature. "But rather, BIG as in…" He held his hand a fair distance apart down around his belt buckle. She rolled her eyes and he chuckled. I've been mullin' this all over in my head, even heard a song that says it pretty well. Something about how life is like an hourglass and ain't got a rewind button and yadda, yadda blah, blah. All I'm tryin' to say is can't undo what I done, only try to make amends. You know he ain't happy with out ya."

Vix just stared at Chibs then she swallowed hard and said, "Thanks for wearin' the shirt." She turned and walked back up the hall towards her guests.

Chibs stared after her then hollered, "So am I forgiven?"

Vix waved him off, never turning around. Chibs wasn't sure where he stood but he'd made the effort and was still in one piece. He shrugged and headed for the food table. Begging for forgiveness could cause ya to work up quite an appetite.

_**XXX**_

"Hey Brainy!" Bodie called from his chair in what they were now dubbing _Command Central_ at the 'Bama club house as he caught sight of Jaci walkin' by.

On the big HDTV that Nolan had hooked up to the computer they watched Jaci roll her eyes and approach the computer on the Cali end_. S_he smiled sweetly at the wireless webcam that Rachel was wielding. "Hey, y'all. Nice seein' ya."

She pointed to where three flat screen TVs were strategically placed throughout the salon and were now broadcasting 'Bama. "Just a quick reminder, EVERYONE PRESENT can SEE and HEAR you, just can't talk to ya unless they are at the cam."

"Well shit!" She heard BB mumble. "If this is gonna constitute my 15 minutes of fame, I'm gonna pull the damn plug."

"Oh hush up, Billy Bob." Roxy chided. "The place looks great, baby! You and Vix ought to be so proud."

"I think you're proud enough for all of us Roxy." Bodie quipped. "Hey, ain't PRIDE one of the 7 Deadlies?"

From his seat behind Bodie, Trace removed his hat and whacked him over the head with it. "Knock it off, Hogan!"

"What is that crazy ass up to now?" Vix chimed in as she approached the webcam party. "Hey Mama, BB, Trace, everybody else. My lord, Rice DiSara? How you doin' sweetie?" Vix asked her oldest 'Bama buddy.

"I'm doin' great, doll. Love the salon and these shirts are _kick a._.. um, hiney! I saw little peeps milling around, guess we ought to keep it PG?"

Vix laughed. "If I can steer clear of X-rated, especially with this crowd, I'll call it a WIN!"

"So I got that email picture a while back. Your fella's freakin'adorable." Rice said as Vix shot an uneasy glance at her sister. "So is he around? I wanna see him in three dimensions and talk at him."

"I'm sure he's around here somewhere." Jaci replied as she noticed Vix's failure to respond.

"He's kinda hard to miss." BB added. "With the tattoos on his goddamn head."

"Oh wait, I think I see him." Roxy announced. "In the mirror behind y'all, ain't that Juice standing over in the corner?" She hollered. "HEY JUICE!"

From his current locale, Juice jumped, a bit startled at hearing his name hollered from the TV. He glanced around and he spotted the girls and Rachel. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights. At Vix's panic glance, Jaci announced, "He's camera shy, I'll go fetch him." She walked over quickly spoke thru a fake smile. "'Bama don't know what went down and I am aimin' to keep it that way, at least through today. So smile for the camera and make it Oscar worthy, Juicey Baby."

_**XXX**_

When Bobby first entered the salon he had spotted the oversized, extremely comfortable looking pedicure chairs and parked his ass in one. He found that the chair reclined backwards, forwards and swiveled, giving him optimum views of the goings on. To his absolute pleasure, he discovered the built in heat and _Air-Caress Relaxation System_ that has been administering a calm soothing massage since he'd accidently hit the POWER button. Bobby was on his "throne" and not much short of his having to take a piss was gonna get him off it. On the wall across from him hung one of the three TVs so he watched with high-amusement as Juice and Vix played it up for the 'Bama family.

_**XXX**_

When Juice, escorted by Jaci, made his way onto the screen, Trace's deep chuckle could be heard from somewhere in the 'Bama background. That was followed by a mostly inaudible conversation between Trace and BB that ended with Trace coming on screen and saying, "You're damn near perfect, brother. BB wasn't shittin' about the head in. What in the name of God would possess you.?"

Roxy cut him off. "Zip it, Trace. Vix, baby… we got us a surprise for you. Why don't you take a look at who rolled in here today just to take a peek at your salon." Roxy adjusted the cam so it is focused on a tall man of older but undeterminable age, sitting in a nearby chair. "Say hello, Travis."

The man waved at the camera. "Hello, Travis." He said with a deep chuckle.

"Smart alleck." Roxy mumbled.

Vix had to stifle a squeal and her frown instantly turned upside down and glowed like neon at seeing her godfather on the screen. "Holy Shit! T.N.T.! I can't believe I ranked an appearance." Vix got a bit choked up. "A _visit_ from you is like the whipped cream, sprinkles and cherry topping on today." She momentarily forgot about her issues with Juice, who was standing less than a foot away. TNT being there was simply awesome.

Travis Narvel Toomey, aka T.N.T., also nick named that because of his demolition expertise, was a founding member of the 'Bama charter. He'd been best friends with J.J. Parker until his death and the V.P. of that crew until a bike wreck 15 years prior had caused him to lose one too many marbles out of his infamously low supply. The brain trauma coupled with the medications for the chronic pain his injuries caused, forced him to step down from that seat. He still rode and a Reaper still hung on his back but now, T.N.T. only ventured to the club house for special votes or when his brothers needed him, mostly preferring the solitude of his home located in the backwoods of Alabama.

"How's Cali-for-ni-a treatin' ya, baby girl?" The older man asked.

Trace appeared on the screen, "Oh she's havin' quite a time. See that fella standing there next to her? Meet Vix's new man… Juice Or-tiiiizzzz."

Vix instantly felt her happiness zap.

TNT peered into the screen and took a good look at Juice. "Or-tiiizzz? Hmph. Jesus Fuckin' Christ. Vix, darlin', what the hell are you thinking? You're daddy'd have a conniption and since he can't, his being dead and all… should I offer to proxy?"

Jaci smirked and turned her head when she heard a snort of laughter from behind her. She spotted Bobby in one of the massage chairs looking very entertained.

Rice sat in her chair staring at Roxy, who was standing with her arms crossed over her chest staring at her husband. BB was shaking his head when he caught his wife's look of _please intervene and stop this shit. _He cleared his throat. "Um, TNT, everybody in the salon can hear and see ya, not just Vix and them around the camera, brother."

"Ooooh." TNT smiled for the camera. "Hey, y'all. So 'bout that fella there..." TNT continued.

Vix smiled, trying to think of a way to politely change the subject. "No conniption required. How are the fish bitin'?"

Apparently not ready to let the subject matter go, TNT kept on task, "You are aware your daddy is probably rollin' over…"

Vix sighed and nodded. "I am sure MOST of what I do would have Daddy on PERMANENT rotisserie in his grave… but none of that is up for discussion right now."

TNT nodded, "Ok sweetie." He leaned closer to the screen and squinted his eyes. "What's that shit on his head?"

From where he was lounging in his chair, highly enjoying the show, Bodie Hogan answered, "Lightening bolt tattoos."

An odd look came on TNT's face and he glanced at BB, "Is he retarded?"

Bobby barked a laugh at the all too familiar insult for Juice. The big guy was damn near in tears and didn't really need the chair's massage function; he was quakin' like a bowl full of jelly from laughing so hard.

"I was just wondering the same thing." Trace piped up from the background.

Roxy came to the rescue, "You boys knock it off, I think that the tattoos make a very bold statement."

Trace laughed. "Yes ma'am, and that statement is _I'm outta my damn mind."_

"I agree with Roxy, I like 'em. " Rice added. "So you just pay these boys no mind, Juice. Know the last thing you wanna do today is chat it up with us, you go on and enjoy your girl's success, but be sure you take good care of my Vix, now."

Those words hit Vix very hard but she managed to plaster on a big ol' fake smile for the camera and in what she hoped wasn't a shaky voice said, " Wow! Look at all my potential clients. I gotta go."

Without another word Vix walked away from the camera. Juice smiled, hesitantly at the camera and glanced at Jaci, who was standing outta camera view and rolling her eyes upward to heaven and shaking her head.

Juice nodded for the camera ."Uh…nice seein' everybody. Enjoy the party… later."

He waved and walked away.

TNT frown with concern. "Did we upset her? Oh come on, honey, we're only jokin…well sorta."

Jaci felt her cell phone vibrate and didn't need to check caller id to know it was Roxy. She slid it open and walked towards the back hall saying quietly, "Hey, Rox."

"What in God's name was THAT?"

Jaci grimaced, "That was a _benefit show_ and now ain't the time to get into it."

"They broke up?" Roxy pushed for answers.

"That obvious, huh?" Jaci continued, "It's a long story and time's in short supply. Vix worked very hard, hell **I** worked very hard, to get to today. TODAY is all about being happy, even if it's deluded happiness. So either she or I will call ya tomorrow, but for right now, lets just focus on happy shit, please?"

Roxy caught something in Jaci's tone and answered. "Ok baby, sure thing. Where's your sister?"

"Vix disappeared somewhere. Probably trying to regain her composure."

"I meant the other one." Roxy clarified.

"Oh! Yeah, Wendy… still in her sober living, I guess. She was only supposed to do the 64 days but she stumbled a bit, so she's still there. I MADE Vix send her an invite, she's allowed to come and go as she pleases now. Vix wasn't happy, her and Wendy got into it a while back over her lack of involvement with Abel. She called and made some lame excuse not to come. Shouldn't have even bothered, I guess..Some shit never changes."

_**XXX**_

Juice walked over and plopped down in the other pedicure chair. He glanced at Bobby. "You had a front row seat, how do you think that went?"

Bobby chuckled. "About as well as the Hindenburg." Bobby made the appropriate explosion sound effects.

"Fuck me." Juice groaned as he got up and walked back to the corner.

_**XXX**_

"Ooh massages." Noted one from the group of Cara Cara contingents that had just arrived at the Grand Opening.

"Doubt that crew will be handing out _Happy Endings_." Ima announced with a laugh.

The pretty brunette standing next to her announced, "This place is stellar. Lu said to stay _local _ less chance of runnin' into Caruso and his bunch. I would totally come here; the vibe is totally hip, and fresh. I wouldn't have been caught dead in that old salon."

Lyla eyed the girl with a laugh, "I'd be more concerned with being _ending up dead _ in this one." She noticed the girl didn't catch her drift. "Tiff, you know whose salon this is right? If I were you I'd take my chances going to Lodi, Georgie would be less hostile."

Tiff eyed Ima, who rolled her eyes and nodded towards where Vix was standing at the front desk, booking some appointments. "See that bitch over there?"

"The one at the des?" Tiff questioned and after seeing Ima's nod of confirmation continued. "She looks like a tattooed wannabe bad ass."

"Oh she ain't wannabe sweetie." Lyla interjected. "That's Vix Parker and I was at the studio the day she and Juice got into it."

Tiff's jaw dropped open. "SHE'S the one that used to be… Juice's girl?"

"Yep." Answered Lyla before walking away to grab a drink from the beverage table… "And this is HER salon."

Armed with this new insight, Tiff took a second glance at Vix.

Ima saw the worried look on her friend's face and snapped her fingers to get her attention. "Key word _USED TO BE_. You aint got nothin' to worry about, you've been treatin' Juicey Baby real good.. keepin' him happy and comin' back for more." She nodded over to the far corner where Juice was holding up the wall and currently talking with Half Sack. "Look at him, poor baby. Probably HAD to come cause you know The Club is probably fronting money for this place. He's not even paying her any mind, not even looking at her." She watched Tiff digest her words and the scene and then continued. "So, you find Juice later tonight... help him forget all about this unpleasantness, hmm?"

Tiff nodded, still eyeing up Vix and trying unsuccessfully to find any similarities between them. She wondered how Juice could be attracted to both of them? They are nothing alike, her and this Vix chick.

Ima nudged her, "And that one over there, the other Parker bitch. Jackie? J.C. something like that… both of 'em are apparently sisters of Jax's baby-mama. It's a friggin' Springer show. She's the one got all up in my shit at the studio, wigged the fuck out over a pen. Um, _friendly_ with Bob the Biker-slash-accountant too." She nodded over to Bobby on his throne.

"And the tanning area is located upstairs." The two girls heard Jaci advising a small group of visitors. The girls exchanged a look, _ooh tanning beds_. "If you will follow me I'll gladly show you around."

Tiff and Ima tagged along on the tail-end of the small group. Upstairs, Jaci caught sight of her two newest tour members and had to dig deep to squelch the desire to be hostile. With a smile firmly in place she continued with her schpeel, "Now, we have 3 private rooms, each boasting a High Pressure Tanning Bed, which use a sophisticated filtering system to block UVB rays and allow only UVA rays to transmit. The result is a faster, darker, longer-lasting tan that requires fewer sessions to maintain" She gestured into the rooms and allowed the tour takers to wander in. "At the very end of the hall, we have a room that houses our Tanning Booth. The upright booth gives the user a better tan because it is easier to move while tanning and there are no pressuer points when you stand, which means a completely even tan. Our booth is also equpited with over-head handles so that it makes tanning your sides and under your arms easier."

_**XXX**_

Half Sack noticed as Jaci resurfaced and he excused himself from being Juice's party date. All the dude had done for the last half hour was mumble under his breath and try to covertly stare at Vix. When he had suggested Juice just go over and talk to her, Juice had practically bit his head off. Half Sack felt sorry for his part in all the whole Connor Misunderstanding and the hell it had unleashed in its wake. He wanted to apologize to Vix but so far the only ones from the MC she had even acknowledged without being forced into it had been Bobby, Opie, Piney and Clay. He'd seen Chibs chat her up and seemingly get the cold shoulder so Kipp decided to go another route, he'd try to persuade her sister to broker a peace. That is if Jaci'd even speak to him.

Half Sack approached Jaci. "Hey, J. Do you got a minute?"

Jaci glanced at the Prospect then went back to surveying the salon from the base of the stairs. She was busy taking stock of what everyone was doing. She looked to Rachel, who was still playing cameraman, over to Bobby who was holed up on his "throne", to Juice, still planted in the corner watching the event while biting his finger nails and looking like he'd rather be anywhere but here. She watched her sister was mingling with those present and putting those newly honed networking skills to the test. Her eyes stopped on Chibs, who was acting peculiar over at the food and beverage table. She remembered Kipp was standing next to her. "What did you want?"

"Can talk to you for a minute?" Kipp asked again.

She looked at him with one eye closed. Her head was throbbing so hard it was making it a bit difficult to see straight. _Goddamn stress._ _Today is supposed to be the easy part but I'm busy dealing with a flood of bikers and freakin'pornstar. _Jaci nodded a bit which didn't help her aching head. "Better make it fast, I think today may kill me."

Half Sack nodded quickly and started to talk but Jaci held up her hand. "Wait. Is this about Vix?"

He nodded and Jaci crooked a finger. "This way." She spun off of the bottom stair and the Prospect stayed close on her heels. When she was about a foot away from the snack table she hollered, "HEY CHIBS! Don't even think about it!"

Chibs looked over his shoulder. He stood hovering over the punch bowl. "What?" He asked as he grinned. He was caught red-handed with a flask in his hand. He shook it at her playfully. "Come on…your sister's hair is spikey, it's only right and proper we should spike the punch, no?" 

Jaci walked over and snatched the flask from him. "No it isn't… for SO very many reasons the most important being that this is Vix's place of business. It's not a BAR and there are kids present. I don't need anyone locked up on serving alcohol to minors charges."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine I'll be good but give me back the flask."

She handed it to him and walked on but turned around a few feet away. She whistled and Chibs looked up to see her point to her eyes and then point forcefully at him, giving him a _I'll be watching you _gesture. He grinned and winked at her. Nice to know there wasn't any awkwardness between them over last night's near hookup.

Bobby and Piney watched the scene with amusement from their perches in the massage pedicure chairs. They were currently involved in an in depth conversation about how the chairs would take lap dances to a whole new level.

As a very preoccupied Jaci marched past them, Bobby called out, "Hey, J…how much one of things cost?'

"Eighty-Five Hundred." She answered as she grabbed ahold of Half Sack's cut and practically shoved him into the break room.

"DOLLARS?" Bobby exclaimed.

Jaci poked her head back outside of the break room to glare at Bobby. "No, COCONUTS, Bobby. What the hell do you think?" She snapped and then disappeared into the room and slammed the door shut.

Bobby looked at Piney and snorted. "_ME-OW!"_

"_Hiss_." Piney retorted and took a hit off his oxygen with a deep chuckle. "These are really comfortable chairs...maybe we could find a gently used one."

_**XXX**_

Vix was mingling about, chatting up everyone and putting some of those newly honed networking skills to use. The appointment register was filling up nicely and the sheet set out to collect contact information for those interested in receiving future salon news, discounts and the like was now nearing 2 pages long. She was practically floating on air.

Vix'd just wandered past Bobby when she saw a couple of girls with _High Maintainence_ written all over them, well that and the name or logo of every trendy designer, Vix could reasonably think of. As she headed in their direction the only thing she was concerned with was potential income.

Bobby, following direct orders from Gemma, had been keeping a close eye on Juice. So far all he'd done was _watch_ Juice _watch _Vix…but when a sudden look of panic shown on the face of the younger man, Bobby followed Juice's line of vision and saw Vix headed straight for Juice's current _go-to for booty calls_. It was suddenly obvious to Bobby that Juice wasn't gonna do jack-shit to avoid potential fallout from this ill-fated meeting, the kid was frozen. He was torn between not wanting to vacate the most comfortable seat on the planet and not wanting an ass reaming from Gemma. Bobby saw Chibs, ever so conveniently walking by. The Scotsman was still a bit glum from being caught attempting to spike the punch bowl.

"Hey Chibs!" Bobby called out to his friend.

Chibs walked over. "Is that thing really THAT comfortable or you just that much of a lazy bastard?"

"Probably a little bit of both but more the 1st one. Hey, need you to do something for me?"

"What?" Chibs asked as he crammed a roll of deli meat in his mouth.

Bobby nodded across the room. "Head that shit off." Without another word, Bobby kicked at Chibs to propel him in the direction to intercept Vix.

Over his shoulder Chibs mumbled, "Yeah, yeah, yeah… put me between a bullet and a target, why dontcha?" He neared Vix and blocked her path. "Hey Vix, darlin'... can I have a word?"

Vix rolled her eyes. "Not now Chibs, I am busy and I still hate you."

"I thought we worked through our differences earlier..."

"Think again."

"Well, I don't want you hatin' me."

He took her arm and tried to walk away but she yanked free from his grasp, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I just need to talk at you…um, over there." He pointed far away from the two porno chicks.

"I'll meet you over there in like five minutes, if you insist. First I need to go greet those chicks, they look like they could be a lot of business."

"Nah, you don't. I'll see to it you get all the business you can handle, no need to go chattin' up Cara Cara girls."

"You're gonna send me what? Broke ass, strung out crow eaters? When those chicks need to spend a shit loada cash on their appearances so they can fuck for a living?"

Chibs had no rebuttal to her argument. He shrugged. "I… I got nothin' other than askin' you to trust me. Those two are best left alone."

Vix shook her head at the madness of the conversation. "You know what ... FINE! You wanna talk, lead the way Chibsy." She followed him down the hall to the room designated for waxing procedures.

_**XXX**_

Ima and Tiff were checking out the selection of hair care products available for purchase in the display case in the waiting area. Ima's harsh exhale of breath caught her friend's attention and she followed Ima's gaze to where Jax Teller had arrived on the scene with his adorable baby boy AND his fuddy duddy doctor girlfriend.

"Need to sign that bitch up for a brow wax." Ima mumbled as the seemingly happy trio walked past.

_**XXX**_

Luann was just getting ready to head to a meeting with her video distributor when her cell phone rang. She glanced at caller ID and saw it flash _B. E. _She shook her head thinking _Isn't he here? What the fuck does he want now?_ Praying the called had NOTHING to do with the deals she made to keep the knowledge of her double-dipping far from Clay's radar, she smiled and put on a sweet voice, "Yes, Bobby?"

"Hey just a _HEADS_ up, I just _HEADED_ off some unpleasantness for a few of your girls. You can thank me, later."

Luann rolled her eyes, catching where his drift was _HEADING._ "How's that?"

Bobby chuckled, "Um, Pete and RePete over in the waiting area."

Luann walked in from outside and saw Tiff and Ima. One was sneaking glances at Juice while the other practically licked her lips over the arrival of Jax. "Jesus Christ!" She breathed into the phone before snapping it shut. She quickly made her way over to the two stupid girls. "You two need to get the hell outta here."

"You said we were invited." Tiff sputtered.

"That was before I knew YOU were screwin' Juice Ortiz. This is Vix's shop, her big day. There'll be serious hell to pay if it is fucked up on your account."

"They're not together anymore...right?" Tiff replied. "I heard they were through... so Juice is fair game."

"Sometimes things aint' what they appear. You really need to watch which lines you cross in this town…and exactly whose advice you listen to." Luann eyed Ima and then turned and walked away.

Tiff turned to Ima, who gives her a _there, there _look and reiterated her prior instructions. "Find him tonight, make it unforgettable and very clear that you are his for the taking. He'll forget all about _The Wicked Witch of the South_."

Tiff nodded and followed Ima out the front door.

_**XXX**_

Vix stood leaning against the closed door, arms crossed across her chest. She watched as Chibs began checking stuff out. He peered into the pot of goop and pulled a long glob of it out by the applicator stick. "What's this for?"

"Ya know that Brazilian look all ya guys go ga-ga for? That's the method behind it. Lather that on, apply the strip and then RIP."

He winced. "Seems a bit like medieval torture, hmm?" He put the stick of goop down.

She shrugged. "No pain, no gain. Being pretty don't just happen." _Thank god!_ She added mentally, considering her sole source of income was based on that fact. She watched as he pulled open a drawer and examined the contents. She sighed. "Ok, so you want to tell me what is goin' on? This little interference run of yours have a purpose? I don't know those two from _Adam_ so is there a reason that… ?" Then it clicked and the realization when it hit her wasn't pretty. Sadness flickered for a moment or two before the anger flowed, "Juice is hittin' one or both of 'em aint he?"

Chibs continued peeking in drawers and cabinets. His _non-answer_ was in and of itself an answer.

Vix was crushed, felt like she'd been run over by a bus. "I fuckin' hate all of you."

"Nah you don't, you don't like us very much right now but you don't hate us, luv."

She glared at him. "No! I think I do!" She slammed out of the room and walked out into the main salon. Her eyes instantly found Juice over the corner staring at her. She locked down her urge to stab him with a pair of cutting shears instead opting to act as if he wasn't even there.

_**XXX**_

Jaci leaned against the sink counter of the break room and crossed her arms. She stared at Half Sack with one eye closed again. "Ok, let's hear it. What's so damn important?"

The Prospect stood up a bit straighter and tried to organize the thoughts in his head. "Well, the whole thing…breakup thing with Juice and Vix? I just wanted to talk to you about it and you know…let you know that I was sorry."

She watched him wince as he made his case, telling her how he should have done this and that differently, blah, blah, blah. She wanted to smack him upside the head but her head honestly hurt too bad to make the effort. Instead she let out an exasperated sigh. "Just please tell me you learned a lesson."

He nodded wildly. "Totally! I talked to Bobby about it and he sorta reamed my ass. Said protectin' a brother is top priority but to be sure I have my shit straight first, told me jumping to conclusions was not an acceptable form of exercise."

"Bobby is a VERY wise man, Kipp." Jaci said. "You should really listen to him more often."

_**XXX**_

Jax and Tara were wandering about the salon, checking things out, saying hello to everyone they knew and quite a few who knew them but they didn't know from Adam. At Ruby's behest, they stopped by the group of The Olds so they could fawn over Abel.

Then, walking towards the back of the salon, with the Abel sitting in his arms, Jax heard a southern voice say, "Jackson Teller, don't tell me you were settin' to walk right on by and not let us see that darlin' baby."

Jax turned to find a camera shoved in his face. He nodded. "Hey, Rachel is it?" He remembered meeting her that day at the ER after Vix's fender bender. He held his son's little arm and waved it towards the 'Bama cam. "Wave to your redneck family, little man."

"We're NOT redneck, Teller." BB corrected in harsh tones, "We're Blue Collar, Country, and/or Southern… there's a difference."

"Oh, my bad." Jax laughed. "Holy shit." He said eyeing the screen and the apparent penchant for long hair on two of the Southern bikers. "Looks like maybe a few of you boys need to fly up here and let Vix hook ya up with hair cuts."

Trace smirked and leaned forward, "You first, pretty boy."

Roxy elbowed Trace out of the way. "All y'all hush up and let me see that baby. Oh My God! He's soo cute! And getting so big. The girls say he's doin' good, healthy and all since getting' outta the toaster."

BB came into focus again and nodded, lookin' the baby over. "He's lookin' real good, son. He doin' alright?"

Jax smiled and nodded. "Yep, he's doin' great. Our biggest obstacle now is tryin' to cut some chompers."

"Oh!" Roxy nodded. "Well ya know, none of that over the counter crap works, right? If he gets to fussin' just rub some SoCo or JD or hell, really any thing you got on hand, on his little gums… make him right as rain."

"Or drunk as shit." Jax said with a laugh.

BB shrugged, "Either way you'll get some peace."

Nolan leaned into the screen, "Hey, Jax."

"Dumbass! Good job on the wi-fi show."

"Thanks, your boy IS a handsome little devil."

Bodie joined the conversation. "Yeah, I think he's got your eyes, man."

"You think?" Jax turned Abel around for a closer look.

"Hell if I know." Bodie said with a laugh. "People are always sayin' that about babies; they got your nose, your eyes, your whateverthefuck. Apparently my daughter inherited my damn EARS." He waved his hands around and grinned, " I don't care though, I's just glad she came out WHITE." He winked at the camera, "My ex is a bit of a whore."

The words were no sooner out of his mouth then he felt someone slap him upside the back of the head. Bodie turned to see BB glare at him. Roxy tossed him a stern look, "Mixed company and little ears, Bodie… mind yourself."

Back on the Cali side of things, Jax laughed. "Sorry to hear that, bro."

Eyeing Roxy, Bodie replied with a laugh, "You and me both, man."

"So your little girl, how old is she?" Jax questioned.

Bodie beamed, "Trinity-Ann, she's 3 ½. Hang on, I gotta picture of her right here." He clenched his cigarette in his teeth and pulled open his wallet and sorted through a few dozen pictures, muttering to himself. "Oh here we go, this one was from last month." Hhe held the picture up to the camera. "I should clean these out but I can't. Sometimes I set them all out in order and just stare in awe at how she grew."

Jax nodded. "Beautiful man… and I think she does have your ears."

_**XXX**_

Half Sack scratched his head nervously as Jaci seemed to contemplate his apology. "Um…so…are we ok? Like are we cool again?"

"Yeah, Kipp…we're cool." Jaci said quietly.

He watched as Jaci closed both of eyes and clenched her jaw. She looked like she was about to hurl. She swallowed hard and rubbed her head. "I honestly can't handle anymore anger and drama and violence or whatever. I guess you're off the proverbial hook."

"You ok? You don't look so good, J." Half Sack warned and was instantly worried. Jaci didn't look right and she wasn't sounding right either and this was a girl who was ALWAYS on top of her game. Jaci suddenly looked like shit, like she might hit the floor any second. "Here sit down. I'm gonna go get, Chibs."

Jaci started to lie and just him she was stressed out and tired and not to worry but she was too woozy to protest. She sat down in the chair he pushed towards her and leaned back with her hands squeezing her head. _Stupid fucking head; just stop hurting for five damn minutes! _Something was definitely off but she managed to have one clear thought and grabbed Kipp's wrist before he went to leave. She looked up at him with pleading eyes. "Not a word to Vix... not today. NOTHING goes wrong today! Nonchalant, Prospect. Can you handle that?"

Half Sack nodded and eased out of the break room. He had fucked stuff up with the Parkers once, he wasn't about to do it again. He quickly looked around and not finding Chibs, made a bee-ling for Tara, who apparently had just arrived with Jax and Abel. He got her to follow him without a scene. Back in the break room, they found a very pale and sweating Jaci sitting in the chair.

Jaci glanced at them and let out a weak laugh, "Guess I shouldn't have been so cheap on the new AC for this place." She fanned her face with her hand. "Christ it's hot."

Tara and Half Sack exchanged a worried glance. It wasn't the least bit uncomfortable in the salon, especially being mid-February. Tara set to checking out Jaci and asking her all sorts of questions about how she was feeling. The doc took her pulse a few times and stood up. "Your pulse is all over the place. With your symptoms, I think you should see someone."

"Not today." Jaci answered quickly.

"Never put off today what..."

"I know the saying, Kipp. Thank you!" Jaci snapped. It seemed getting testy was a side effect of whatever was bothering her. "Today is all about Vix. She pulled off this little dream of hers and I will support her if it kills me."

"And it may with your pulse racing like that." Tara warned.

Jaci laughed. "Well if I die at least I'll get some down time, right?" Neither Tara or Half Sack laughed at her joke. They all stayed silent for a few minutes. Jaci took a deep breath and tried to get a hold of herself. She stood up and rolled her shoulders. The nausea she had been feeling was starting to pass. The headache was still in full throb but what else was new. She stared at her friends who watch her carefully. "Look, make me an appointment I'll come tomorrow or Monday…just NOT TODAY."

Before Tara could protest, Jax walked into the room carrying Abel. "And what do we have here, this party by invite only or something?" Jax asked with a smile.

Everyone suddenly sprouted jovial looks on their face but not before Jax and Tara exchanged a glance. Jaci locked eyes on Abel and decided to use him as an excuse to vacate the room. "What's up little man?" She exclaimed happily and scooped her nephew out of his daddy's arms. "Let's go check this place out!" She strolled out of the break room.

A few moments later, after lying and assuring Jax nothing was going on, Tara sidled up next to Jaci as she was letting Abel play with a stack of magnets at the front desk. The doctor plastered a fake smile plastered on her face and whispered. "You're going to the walk-in clinic tomorrow morning."

Jaci smiled back sweetly. "Fine."

Tara smiled more. "I'm going with you. I'll be at your house at 9am."

Jaci gritted her teeth but still smiled, "Fine."

To anyone watching the girls seemed to be smiling over the baby and chatting happily. Tara shook her head. "You'd have a blood pressure cuff on you right now if I hadn't left my bag at home."

"Bummer." Jaci said sarcastically.

"Jaci, this is serious." Tara said with a frown.

Jaci nodded and looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to them. "I know, ok? I'm actually pretty worried...that's why I am using humor as a defense mechanism. Didn't they teach you anything in med school?" Jaci smiled and rubbed noses with Abel, who squealed with delight. She kissed her nephew on his forehead and looked at Tara. "Just let me get through today then you can poke and prod on me all you want."

_**XXX**_

"What's your fascination?"

Tara turned from keeping a keen eye on Jaci to looking at the questioner and found herself face to face with Gemma. "Huh? She asked.

Gemma nods toward where Jaci was having a conversation with the brunette apparently in charge of the webcam. "With Jaci…you're practically drilling holes with your eyes."

"Oh...no...I..." Tara scrambled to find a reasonable excuse other than _I'm waiting to see if she drops dead_. "I was just trying to figure out who's the girl with the web cam."

"Bobby says Vix's friend from college."

Tara nodded and the two watch as Vix joined the discussion around the camera.

"We're turning the cam over to Ellie Winston, so that Rachel can have a small break." Jaci informed the crew down in 'Bama.

"Hey, sweetie!" Roxy hollered thru the cam on her end.

"Hello Alabama!" Ellie beamed into the cam. "Have you guys seen the upstairs yet? Ok so sit back and enjoy the _Whirlwind Winston_ tour of the beauty mecca that is _Twisted Scissors_."

Roxy could be heard saying, "Oh My Sweet Lord, I love this kid. Show us the works, baby girl!"

"She sounded like one of them _on-the-spot_ news reporter." Rice remarked with a laugh.

Ellie took the cam and started towards the stairs pointing out this and that, as proud as a peacock.

Rachel headed off to grab some grub and Vix mingled a bit. She was walking past Gemma and Tara when she heard Gemma call her over. Gemma nodded towards the buffet table. "Your friend, she's lovely. Where ever did you find her?" She saw the snarky reply budding on Vix's lips and added, "And if I hear _976-BABE_ come out of your mouth, I'm liable to slap ya."

Vix smiled "Whatcha insinutatin'? "Ok I do love to quote _Pretty Woman. _I _found_ her at school. I've been friendless since Cherry, she fits the bill nicely."

Tara glanced over to where several of the SONS were taking subtle glances and some were just flat out staring. "I think the guys are all um, impressed by your friend."

Vix rolled her eyes. "They'll be very disappointed to learn that she plays on the same team as them."

"Really?" Gemma smirked.

It took a longer moment for Tara to figure out her meaning. "OH! Really? Cause she looks so normal..."

Vix stared at Tara "_Normal?_ What the fuck you expect her to look like? I hate stereotypers. I get thought to be a damn dyke all the time cause I cut my hair short and am a bit of a take-charge type."

"Just a bit?" Gemma teased.

"Yeah." Vix nodded and seeing Rachel approaching, continued, "And then you have Rachel, here."

Rachel joined the group. "Guess you told 'em my dirty little secret?" Vix nodded and she smiles. "Yes, it's true…I'm a full-blown, no holds barred muff diver."

Tara coughed very loud to cover her shock at the announcement. Gemma just smiled then addressed the young woman, "Don't think that declaration will deter some in our midst. They're apt to take that as a challenge."

"Um, yeah... you're gonna want to stay away from Tigger." Vix advised with a laugh. "And don't be surprised if Chibs asks if he can watch or offers to have you call him up if you ever decide to jump the fence."

**XXX**

After situating the 'Bama cam, Jaci had noticed the trash was about to overflow the confines of the trash cans and quickly set to bagging it all up. She walked through the back door to the patio area with a small bag of trash in each hand. They were having a banner turnout and lots of people were milling around the salon. Jaci kept her head down, thinking about the next ten things she needed to after dumping the trash; but what she really needed to do was sit outside for a bit and chill. After her little 'spell' in front of Tara and Kipp, it was evident a cool down was necessary. The day was definitely taking its toll. Maybe a break wasn't such a bad idea.

**ADD THE BIT ABOUT HIM HAIVNG A STACK OF LUNCH MEAT IN ONE HAND AND A BROWNIE BALANCED ON THE OTHER .. AND SOME CHIPS AND A SODA… this aint a smorgasboard, TIG!***

From his perch on top of the low rise brick retaining wall, Tig watched Jaci walk outside with a frown on her face. He could nearly see the wheels turning in her head. _Always worrying_ he mused. He blew out a stream of smoke and eyed her coolly. She lifted her head a few seconds later, saw him and froze.

_Shit. _Jaci muttered internally. _Why the fuck is he still here? Of all the freaking people to run into it had to be freaking HIM. And he's sitting in front of the goddamn dumpsters. _She stared at him and waited to see what sort of dickhead comment he was going to make; like waiting for your opponent to throw the first punch so you could figure out the proper counterpunch. He was just staring at her. She looked at the pile of food he had sitting on a plate next to him, lunch meat rolls, brownies, chips, a cup of punch and two Cokes were stacked on top of each other. She frowned. "The snack table wasn't meant to be a smorgasbord, Tig. No wonder I'm running out of shit."

A minute passed and Tig cocked an eyebrow at her and finally spoke. "You gonna hold that trash all day?"

Jaci shrugged and said, "Alley-Oop?" She flung one of the bags underhanded toward him. He was paying attention, moved his cigarette to his mouth, and caught the bag with both hands. He turned and tossed it into the open dumpster. Then he turned around and gave her a _gimmee_ gesture with one of his hands. She tossed the second bag to him and took a deep breath as he disposed of it. _Ok, ok…TRY walking on the high road for a moment. _It was difficult but she managed to say, "Thanks."

Tig didn't respond, just went back to sitting and smoking. The air was heavy with awkwardness. In her head, she kept hearing Chib's words from the night before about how Tig was stubborn and probably waiting on a move from her. She didn't know what move to make or what she really wanted from him…but mainly she just wanted the ability to be civil.

She swallowed hard and then said, "You've put in your mandated appearance, Gemma won't yell if you go now.'

"Should go home and take a fuckin' nap. Got up too damn early." Tig replied with a smug look on his face. "Late night last night…you know how the parties go after Church." He downed the contents of the punch cup and she wondered if Chibs had spiked it.

"Yeah." She replied. He was trying to bait her, make her jealous about his romps with the clubhouse croweaters. She was certain if she made a comment, things would get nasty. All of a sudden a thought occurred to her. "Can we just take a time out here?" She asked as she made a T gesture with her hands.

"Timeout?" Tig frowned. "Like you want me to go stick my nose in the corner, sit on a little chair or something?" He snorted and flicked ashes to the ground. "Ain't happening; I've behaved myself today."

Jaci rolled her eyes, "Not like THAT. I just mean...can we like…just share this space here for a few minutes? Just chill out and take a break from all the hostility? You know…TRY to be civil?"

He pondered her request for a moment. Looking her over, she looked a bit…off. Like she was too tired or something. He knew how she stressed over every little thing in life. _Day like today must be givin' her a fuckin' fit._ It wouldn't _kill _him to keep his bridge burning antics in check for the rest of the day. Besides, it would keep Gemma off his ass and that was always a good thing. "Fine." He resided.

She nodded at his timeout acceptance and then had no clue how to proceed. It had been so long since she had talked to him…she didn't really know him anymore, didn't feel a connection with him. Standing on the patio with him was the exact same feeling as standing next to a stranger on the street…only she _knew_ this stranger was an asshole.

Tig scratched at his goatee and avoided eye contact. Finally he jerked a thumb towards the salon and said, "Looks good."

Jaci had been too busy avoiding eye contact as well and missed what he said. "Mmm?"

"I said the place looks good." Tig clarified as he crushed the cigarette butt into the flower pot on his right.

"Those aren't ashtrays…" Jaci started to reprimand him but stopped herself and tried to focus on the unlikely compliment. "Um…I mean…thanks. We really busted our asses on this thing."

Tig picked through the plate of food sitting next to him. He shoved a few chips into his mouth and asked, "So now you got this off your plate, you gonna calm the fuck down and stop bein' so bitchy?"

"Oh my god, Tig!" Jaci tossed up her hands in exasperation. "Two seconds, for two seconds you managed to NOT be a complete asshole and then boom!" She shook her head.

He laughed and corrected her. "Nah, I can't be a complete asshole, parts of me are missin'... tonsils... adenoids... "

"Heart?" She suggested flatly but then an ever so small smile crossed her face. She'd never admit it but the remodel did have her in semi raving bitch mode. She was very much looking forward to being able to settle down after today.

Silence overtook them again and Jaci sat down a few feet away from him at the small patio table. Tig looked around the lot and continued to stuff his face. Jaci ran her hand over her face and then sighed.

"Saw that stupid webcam shit you got going. I keep waiting for Vix and Juice to get into it, be like watching a pay per view cage match." Tig mused as he cracked open a can of Coke.

Jaci just smirked. "Well everyone is on their best behavior today...but you might want to steer clear of it. Don't test Roxy's patience."

"You call her with some rant about us when I dumped you?" He fired back.

Jaci hid the sting of the DUMPING mention well and shook her head. "Nope...just told her it was over a few months back. Can't rant about shit I don't understand." She added quietly and stared off at the back parking lot.

Tig considered her answer for a moment then continued, "Well ole Rox isn't too pissed. I walked past earlier, heard my name. She said some stuff I couldn't hear but 'Bless his heart' was at the end of it, can't be that bad." Tig smirked then frowned when Jaci started laughing. "What?"

"Bless his heart? You know that's like the Southern equivalent of 'no offense, BUT.., right?' Jaci smiled widely. "You pretty much just say whatever you want about a person but slap that phrase at the end so you don't sound mean. I can hear her now...'That's Tig Trager, might be good looking but he's mean as a damn snake and ain't got the sense God gave a goose, bless his heart."

Tig grimaced. _Motherfucker. _Roxy had handed him his ass and he hadn't even know it. He thought for a way to jab back at Jaci. "What's with you and the damn animal analogies? No wonder everyone thinks you Southerners are goat fuckers."

She just rolled her eyes and smiled smugly. Tig wiped his hands on his jeans. "So where's Motor? Figured his ugly mug would be all over that stupid camera thing."

"Motor doesn't like to TALK, he damn sure wouldn't do it on CAMERA."

"He'd do it for YOU." Tig pointed out.

Jaci smiled slightly. "Yeah he probably would, maybe just for a minute. But anyway... he's actually outta town. His older brother Randy's been in prison for the last couple years, getting out today."

"What was he in for?"

"Possession and solicitation of a prostitute." Jaci answered bluntly and then smirked. "Randy had a good life...traded it all for cocaine and a whore."

Tig chuckled. "Not a bad trade...if you don't get busted."

"Yeah...lovely." Jaci rolled her eyes. "So anyway, Motor went to pick him up...show of support and all that."

"Why didn't the other guys go? They strip his patch?" Tig frowned.

"Oh Randy's not a Son." Jaci actually laughed a bit. "No way would BB have him. He's sort of a fuckup...good guy when he's sober though. He has long stretches of it but always screws it up. This was his second time in the pen. Too much of a liablity for the Club, besides Randy's got a problem with authority. And for you guys being the Sons of ANARCHY...you got a lot of RULES."

Tig nodded along. "What's Motor think of him?"

"Bout the same as I think of Wendy." Jaci answered with a shrug. "You love them but you hate them sometimes, frustrated and stuff. But who knows...maybe they'll both clean up for good this time."

A moment later a very agitated Juice pushed through the back door, breaking up the conversation. He was lighting up a cigarette as his feet hit the patio pavement and blew out a stream of smoke, rubbing his hand roughly over his head. Tig smirked as he watched the kid. Something had happened.

"Welcome to the jungle...watch where ya step. " Tig called out playfully.

Jaci glanced at Juice. "What's up Party Pooper?"

Tig laughed slightly at her dig. He cocked his head and stared at Juice. "What'd she do?"

"Huh?" Juice questioned as he paced around the patio.

"That look on your face…what'd Vix say to you?" Tig clarified.

Juice shook his head sadly. "Nothing… hasn't said shit to me all day. Now she looked straight through me like I ain't even here."

"Awwww, poor baby." Jaci teased sarcastically.

"Hey, does no one realize how hard it is for me to be here?" Juice snapped.

"Oh cry me a river, asshole." Jaci snapped. "You ever think how hard it is for Vix to be 'round you? You pretty much painted her a whore and totally hung her out to dry. You're lucky she doesn't stab you to death with her scissors." Any moment of calm Jaci had going vanished in an instant. "You made your damn mandated appearance. Gemma won't kick ya in the nuts now. Why ya still here? You coulda left hours ago, so admit it... YOU'RE the one choosin' to stay at this point." She jerked a thumb toward Tig. "Same as HIM."

Tig scoffed and swung his feet against the low wall. "I'm here for the lively conversation and the food." He thought for a moment longer then added, "Well that and me and Hap were thinking of trying to fuck one of the Cara Cara girls in one of the tanning beds."

"Jesus Christ." Jaci muttered and cut her eyes at Tig. "I hope BOTH of those ideas burn you in the ass." She went back to fiddling with the coasters on the patio table.

"Logistical nightmare... hard as a rock and the likelihood of a concussion from whackin' your head on the lip.. " Juice said with a shake of his head. He closed his eyes and recalled a scene from a few weeks back. Thankfully the heart wreching revelry was short lived as he heard Tig laugh.

"Really? Wow, you stud. Beat me to a tanning booth hook up? This little Porn Princess of yours is seriously expanding your horizons." Tig dabbed his eyes dramatically. "I feel oddly proud."

"Tig! Dude!" Juice cut him off and tossed a sideways look at Jaci. Juice was shocked at Tig's reveal but wasn't even about to explain that the experience was gleemed from him and Vix, and their light bulb installation gone completely sideways.

Tig just smiled and reveled in the uncomfortable moment.

"Oh you both suck." Jaci seethed. "Wait…some of Luann's girls are here. You aren't…is she…?"

Juice paled and hung his head. Jaci sighed. "Oh my god... my sister is in there mingling with your current fuck buddy." Expaserated, she shook her head. "Does Vix know?"

Although Juice wasn't sure, he had a good idea that she did. "Probably."

"How many ways can you do her wrong Juice? What did she ever do to you?"

Tig grinned; all the passive aggressive barb throwing was kind of fun. No one was yelling but they were getting their points in all the same. But Tig never had been one for subtlety. He always felt the need to act up when an audience was present so it wasn't long before he was crossing the line. "Oooh I'm getting deja vu. We're talking shit to each other, I'm what did you call it... oh yeah, being a _bad Role Model_ and all in the presence of porn stars. Juice, maybe you should go punch her sister again... ya know for old times sake."

Both Juice and Jaci gave Tig a hard look. Jaci muttered, "Dick." under her breath and stood up. "You suck at time outs by the way."

"Maybe you shoulda put in me in that corner." Tig teased.

"Shoulda duct taped your goddamn mouth shut."

"Oooh nice." Tig laughed. "I like that bondage shit."

Jaci gave him a disgusted look. "I'm going inside. I made Vix promise she'd play nice with others today...it'd look really bad if I broke my own rule."

Tig sneered, "We can't have YOU breaking any rules."

"HA." Jaci deadpaned, remembering how he used to call her Ms Straight and Narrow. "Well it was fun playing nice with you while it lasted…all TWO minutes of it."

Tig rolled his eyes. "It's all bullshit, Jaci. What's it matter?"

Before she could answer, Moby came running onto the patio pavement and grabbed Jaci, hugging her around the legs and damn near knocking her over. She got her balance while wrapping an arm around the kid's shoulders. "What's up, dude? How ya doin?"

"Good." Moby said with a shy grin. He looked over at Tig and Juice. "Hey, guys."

"Hey, kid." Tig replied.

"Did you get em?" Moby looked up at Jaci. "Those cupcakes? I didn't see 'em in there."

Jaci smiled at the kid. "That's cause I put them back especially for YOU."

"You did? Can we go get em?" Moby asked anxiously. He thought the salon was awesome looking but he had been thinking about the chocolate cupcakes Jaci had promised him for days now.

"Sure." Jaci grinned. She glanced over at Tig and her smiled faded a bit. A glance at Juice made her want to kick him in the balls. She cocked an eyebrow at both men and just said, "See ya."

Tig ignored her and turned his head to stare out over the patio.

Juice exhales deeply."I'm outta here." He finished his cigarette and walked down the alley and around the side of the building to his bike.

**XXX**

An hour later, the Grand Opening party began to wind down. The 'Bama sign off would have went on indefinitely. Roxy hadn't wanted the connection to end, forcing BB to say "That's all folks!" and yank the cord. After Vix had ushered the last of the guests out the door and declining assistance with clean up for the tenth time, she heaved a huge sigh of relief. "Well I think today qualifies as a success."

"Of course it does. And I am soooo proud of you, baby girl. You saw what you wanted and you went after it and TAH-FRIGGIN' DAH… here it is." Jaci stood up from where she was enjoying the massage feature of the pedicure chair. "I was watchin', you made a lot of appointments and stuff." She began flipping through the book on her lap but it's not long before a look of concern dawns on her face. "Um, sweetie… how are you gonna handle all these appointments and school. And I don't want your typical answer of _SOME HOW_. You need to have a legitimate plan."

Vix nodded. "I do…I'm hiring Rachel. She actually has her cosmetology license and. .."

"Oh my god! Vix you can't just up and hire your friends." Jaci exclaimed and felt her dulled headache roar to life again. "There are some lines that shouldn't be blurred. It's ok to be friendly with your employees but being FRIENDS always ends badly. I think if you need help you should run an ad, do some interviewing. I could help and by all means interview Rachel but only hire her if she is the best qualified." Jaci studied her sister for a moment. "You already offered her the job, didn't you?"

Vix nodded. "Yep!"

Jaci groaned and internally gave up. "Ok, well this is your baby, your time to sink or swim. You gotta cut the tow-line some time." She climbed out of the pedicure chair. "My role was laid out in our plan. I'm to make sure the money flows - correctly! IF Rachel keeps that happening, well goodie goody. " Jaci yawned. "Why don't we call it a night? Come in bright and early to clean up before your first official day open tomorrow."

"You go on, I'm gonna hang out a bit. I'm wired up." Vix replied. "Oh and um, I told Rach to talk to you… 'bout maybe her moving in. I know she's been stayin' at the house but if she is workin' here, she needs a permanent place, ya know, to live? And well I thought you let Cherry move in, and Rachel would even pay rent. Some green is always a good thing, right?"

Jaci laughed softly but nodded. "Green is always a good thing." _Contrary to Tig's philosophy_. She thought to herself. "Don't be too long… it's been a long day and a long time comin'."

Vix nodded. "True dat."

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

_Never fear…the next chapter is coming up a LOT sooner and will answer a few of the questions you all have. What the hell is wrong with Jaci? What's gonna happen with Vix and Juice? Where the hell is Spawn? Etc etc. All good things come to those who wait…and REVIEW! Ha!_


	9. Chapter 8

**Walk Away from the Son  
Parker Sister Saga continues – Season 2 of SoA**  
**Chapter 8- F.M.L. ****(the aftermath of the Twisted Scissors Grand Opening)  
****By BG and Reaper**

**A Hard Day's Night**

Tig leaned against the bar and looked around the clubhouse. Just like nearly every Saturday night, there was a party going on; a loud mash up of bikers, half naked chicks, booze, and music. It should have been exciting but in all honesty, Tig gave less than a shit about all of it. Instead of paying attention to the skank with the big boobs that stood at the end of the bar and kept giving him the eye, his mind kept wandering back to his afternoon chat with Jaci. His inner little demon was not amused by that fact and desperately needed distracted. _Goddamnit…what the fuck do I gotta do to get that bitch outta my head? _He frowned and took another pull from his beer and then actually hit himself in the temple with the heel of his right hand. _Keep movin', keep movin', don't stop and fuckin' THINK!_

"This party sucks." He announced as he walked over and nudged Chibs.

Chibs laughed. "So bad it made ya smack yourself upside the head? What's up with that, brother?"

"What?" Tig snapped and then shook his head. "It was nothing."

They scoped out the room for a long moment but the Scotsman asked, "Hey…did chya talk to Jaci today?"

"Yeah…bitch asked for a time out." Tig answered with a laugh and finished off his beer. "I was good for about five minutes."

"Time out?"

"I don't know…something stupid about playing nice or something." Tig answered distractedly. _Stop talking about HER, asshole! _He grimaced at the sight of a croweater as she walked past them. _Jesus Christ, we need some new blood around here. _That little thought actually kicked off a chain reaction in Tig's head and suddenly knew where he needed to be that night. "Let's go to the strip club."

Chibs frowned. Jaci had taken his advice and _tried_ to reach out to Tig and the asshole had blown it. Now he was laughing about it, calling her a bitch, and wanted to go the strip club. _Lost fuckin' cause. _Chibs shook his head in frustration, thinking he should have slept with Jaci when he had the chance.

"You in or out, Chibsy?" Tig asked as he headed for the door.

"Aye." Chibs cocked an eyebrow, "Do I even have to ask which place we're goin'?"

"Nope." Tig grinned. "You know which bitch I'm after."

_**XXX**_

Jaci made it home from the salon without any further 'spells'. She grabbed a bottle of water and sprawled out on the couch to watch some TV. She flipped aimlessly through the channels, not really caring what was playing. She felt sorta sick to her stomach and completely wore out.

Rachel breezed in the house thirty minutes later and poked her head into the living, spotting Jaci. She announced she was famished and had stopped by **Clucks N Spuds** on the way home for a bucket o' chicken and some mac N cheese. She inquired if Jaci wanted any but the offer was declined.

"Mmmmmm! This is so good." Rachel announced as she plopped onto the other side of the sectional sofa, already digging into her dinner.

"Heard you got a job today." Jaci said as she stared at the TV.

Rachel grinned, "Sure did. I think you might know the place…kickass little salon in downtown Charming?"

"I may have heard of it." Jaci deadpanned as she finally looked at Rachel. "Look, Rach…I hate to be a hardass, but I guess that's my lot in life. In case you haven't noticed, Vix is a bit spontaneous…in everything she does and hiring you falls into that category. And while I have _nothing_ against you…I have to look out for Vix and our little business venture. So I gotta say…if you have even the _slightest_ inkling that you can't do this job or that you are gonna hose us over somehow, I'd really appreciate it if you just bailed now."

Rachel cocked an eyebrow and shoveled a forkful of macaroni into her mouth. She chewed and stewed as Jaci talked. Finally she blotted the corner of her mouth with her thumb and replied with a smirk. "Vix is my friend and she needs me so, how about this_**… **__I'll stay until the wind changes__**.**_... but even then I'll give a good forecast."

Jaci eyed the girl."Then I guess, _Mary Poppins_, you'll be needing a permanent place. The room you've been stayin' in is yours. I'm too tired right now to negotiate a price, so why don't you figure out what you think is fair and then knock off 10% due to the pleasure of having to share a bathroom with Vix."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, Vix is known to commandeer bathroom space and hog the hot water and she still squeezes her tube of toothpaste from the middle and that drives me crazy... but if you love Vix, you learn to love the quirks that go with her. Speaking of, I have to ask, you don't _LOVE _ my sister do you?"

Rachel laughed. "How did I know that question was coming? Your sister is awesome in every way but unfortunately for me she is totally into guys and unfortunately for her, one guy in particular, who is apparently a complete dickhead."

"Juice isn't a dickhead, well not usually. He's just got his head up his ass. I pray nightly that sooner or later he will pull it back out but who knows." Jaci sighed. "Anywoo, welcome to Parker Place North... how much of that chicken you got left?"

"Whole bucket in the kitchen." Rachel answered with a smile.

_**XXX**_

Vix had gotten the salon back into working order in record time; she'd zipped about the place like the _Energizer Bunny _on meth, working off of the high she had gotten from the grand opening being a huge success, at least from a professional standpoint. While lugging a bag and a box of trash out back to the dumpster, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning, she stared hard at the person sitting in a chair of the bistro set. "What the fuck are you doin' here?" She snapped.

Juice rapped his knuckles lightly on the table top sighed and said "Keepin' an eye." Something in her stance made it clear to him that he'd better be a bit more specific. "Us being here today may not have been a good thing."

"Really?" She sneered. "Shocker!"

"From a security standpoint, I mean… we mighta stirred up more dust than." He paused in his explanation when she turned and walked over to the dumpster. He watched her toss the trash and turn then turn back to face him.

"So you're here on club orders? I don't buy that, last thing Clay wants is personal shit overlappin' club affairs. Given our current _issues,_ you're the last person he or Jax would purposely send here tonight so why don't you cut the shit and tell me what the hell you're really doin' here because my good graces have plum run out."

Juice studied her, she looked on the defensive, even her stance is one of a person settin' to fight if provoked. He hated that she felt the need to be that way around him, but he understood why, he'd been a complete dick to her. He nodded towards the chair on the opposite side of the table and said, "Sit down."

"I don't think so." She shook her head. "I've been blindsided enough lately, I'll stay standin'."

"Fine."

Vix looked at him. "Um, did I forget to mention that when my good graces went they took my patience with 'em? Besides ain't you got somewhere you need to be, someONE you need to be doin'?"

"Vix, knock it off."

"Why? Have I struck a nerve? My sister was right... you probably had bitches waitin' in the wings the whole time we were together seein' as you've wasted no time in replacin' me. Intrestingly you and your friends go and burn me at the stake and denounce me a whore."

He looked like he was going to say something so Vix held up a finger. She glared at him, "I'm not done and don't you dare deny it."

"I wasn't gonna."

"Good! At least I don't have to add _**liar**_ to the list of adjectives I've come to use to describe you." His eyes narrowed but she couldn't have cared less and continued, "You know what I don't get… I was nothin' but loyal to you, ONE THOUSAND percent. Your accusations were unfounded and dumb macho bullshit and your jealousy kicked into overdrive over something that was harmless and completely explainable if you'd given me the benefit of the doubt and half-a-minute."

"I know." He sighed and leaned forward in the chair, resting his forehead on the table's edge. "Look about that shit that went down, I never got to explain..."

"Are you sorry?" Vix asked suddenly.

Without taking his forehead off the table, he turned his head sideways to look at her. "I was wrong. I admit that"

"I KNOW you were WRONG. I asked if you are SORRY?"

He sat up and slumped back in the chair and began examining his trashed fingernails. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Yeah, well ya did and that can't be undone... AND it still doesn't answer my question."

"Are you trying to pick a fight?"

"No, Juice... I am asking a question, that requires a simple _yes_ or _no _answer. ARE YOU SORRY?" Vix demanded

His hesitation and avoidance of eye contact spoke louder than words could. She relented and nodded with a sigh."This conversation is going nowhere and I need to finish up here and get home so maybe, you should go." She leveled a look at him. "I do have one question." She shook her head. "Call it morbid curiosity or I don't know, sadistic need to know… where's your crazy jealously now? Now that you're with that _Cara Cara Cunt,_ whose EVERY INDISCRESSION is available for download on the internet or for purchase on goddamn DVD. I just… I don't get it."

"Hard to be jealous when you don't give a shit." He offered with a shrug. "That chick's_ Nobody_ to me."

She had expected at least for him to balk at admitting his dalliance, so at hearing his explanation/admittance, her heart, which had shattered 2 ½ week prior, felt as if it had been now ground into fine dust. She wanted to cry or harvest his internal organs with the letter opener from her desk but was saved by a loud pounding coming from inside the salon.

They both glanced in the direction of the noise. Juice was to his feet in a split second, his hand went instinctively for the gun at his side. Telling her of the possibility of trouble had just been a plausible excuse he'd come up with... he'd not really expected any trouble but then since SAMCRO had come into his life, he'd learned that trouble didn't wait to be invited to the party. "Wait here." He said to Vix as he headed inside the salon.

When she heard him mutter, "Jesus Christ" a bit loudly, she rushed into the salon... praying she didn't need her own gun since it was in her purse, in the drawer at her station. Vix stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of their current subject of conversation standing at the door of her salon.

Vix turned her attention from the skank to Juice, "_Nobody_, huh? Well, your _Nobody _has come callin'" She glared at him then nodded towards the door, "I think it's for you."

Juice went to run his hand over his head and noticed he was still holding his gun in his hand. He hastily shoved it back in place, strode over to the door and flung it open. He eyed Tiffany like she was out of her mind, "What the fuck do you want?"

Tiff's glance shot from Vix to Juice and she offered a half-smile. "I um, I saw your bike."

He glared at her. "And?"

"Aaaand I thought maybe you'd want to get together….again.. tonight. You know, hang out and do, um other things."

Juice watched her - the words were meant to sting Vix and that kicked his already amped anger up a few more notches. "You need to leave."

Vix nodded in agreement. "So do you, Juice! Both of you get the fuck out."

Juice and the skank both looked at her. Vix just glared at the pair, needing them both gone. She was quickly losing control of her emotions and she'd be damned if cry in front of either of them.

"Vix?" Juice questioned. He felt any headway he'd made with her vanish before his eyes.

She rolled her eyes at Juice and contemplated the chick standing next to him. She tried to find some similarity with herself but they were, in her estimation, _Day vs Night_, _Left vs Right, North vs South_, hell _Pepsi vs Coke. _They didn't have a thing they had in common except _Ta-Ta's _and_ Pink Tacos_.

Vix just shook her head for what seemed like hundredth time. "You know what, Juice… you may not wanna be with me no more." She paused not only to let the words seep in but to steady herself, saying those words almost choked her. "But you can sure as shit do better than some porno trash."

Tiff's ire flared, "EXCUSE ME! I am an Actress!"

"Sure you are… and all you bitches at the studio sportin' chaps and boots and whips are set to what? Film a documentary on horseback riding?" Vix spat back then yelled. "GET THE FUCK OUTTA MY SALON!"

Tiff took an agreesive step towards Vix and jabbed the air between them with her finger. "You don't know shit about me."

"I know all I need to, don't really want to know any more." Vix deadpanned then added, "But here's somethin' YOUR gonna want to know. You take one more step against me, they'll need fuckin' dental records to identify you."

"Are you threatening me?" Tiff stammered.

Vix switched her glare at Juice. "Take your bitch and get the fuck outta here. NOW! Shit's about to get hostile."

Tiff scoffed.

"Shut the fuck up and walk." Juice practically pushed Tiff out the door of the salon. He heard Vix slam the door behind them and his temper spiked once again. Tiff went to speak and he narrowed his eyes, "Who the fuck do you think you are?" He held up his hands, "Doesn't matter,… you're gonna want to forget you know me."

Tiff's jaw drops open "But wait... I thought we..."

Juice shook his head and sneered, "Newsflash for ya princess, there ain't no _WE!_" We've fucked maybe six or seven times?" He regarded the chick with a disgust. "After the cum dries, you don't mean shit to me."

He watched as her face fell… he'd never admit it but a part of him, a small part, enjoyed it. Tig, in an intense drunken ramble, had went on and on about the _devil versus angel_ struggle he sometimes felt within him, and at that moment Juice could almost visualize his shoulder_ angel's_ halo slipping 'round her neck, choking her as she clawed frantically at the constricting devise. As the angel pried herself lose and gasped for air, Juice nodded back towards the salon, "That woman…she's a whole 'nother story. So stay the fuck away from her and her salon." He nodded off in the distance. "Get lost... NOW!"

Tiff scurried to her car, tail tucked between her legs and sped off into the night.

Juice walked over and climbed on his bike. He snapped his helmet in place and stared at the locked up salon. He was at a loss, maybe this shit between him and Vix was unfixable. He sighed and revved up his bike thinking, _**"Fuck My Life!"**_

_**XXX**_

The _OH!_ Zone was a high-yielding strip club, a flashing neon oasis located in an industrial wasteland under a freeway overpass outside Lodi. The name of the club was constantly misconstrued to be a cleaver play on the word Ozone, but you didn't have be a Mensa candidate to realize that any reference to _the OH! Zone_, as it pertained to naked women, was actually referring to orgasms.

When Tig and Chibs arrived they were greeted warmly by the host, an older man with salt-n-pepper hair and an expensive suit.

"Hey, Dino." Chibs smiled and shook the man's hand. "I see _Pervert's Row_ is especially packed tonight." The Scotsman nodded towards the area lining the stage.

Dino nodded. "Well-known feature dancer, draws 'em in every time. You want, I have the boys make room for you?"

"Nah… it's a back booth sorta night, D." Tig answered with a sinister smile playing on his lips. He patted the owner on the chest as he made a bee-line for the club's darkest corner.

Chibs' progress to the booth was made at a slightly slower pace. The Reaper on his back garnered a lot of attention from the club's girls. His ass had barely grazed the large, round leather booth, when a gaggle of 'em flocked. Tig waved most of them in Chibs' direction. He kept scanning the place, looking for a particular girl. He finally spotted her dancing for some loser with three chins and a bad toupee. She gyrated to the beat of the music pumping from the speakers while staring straight ahead at the wall. Tig felt his body seize slightly with desire but he locked it down and waited it out.

When the song ended she scanned the club and looked for her next customer. Her eyes locked with Tig's a half-second later and a genuine smile formed on her lips. She reached the table as the opening chords of FIRE by Jimmy Hendrix began. She slid in the booth, straddled his lap, and began moving her hips to the rhythm. Halfway through the lap dance, she leaned in and kissed him. The dancers weren't supposed to get that friendly with the customers, but she really didn't give a shit. If Dino knew how friendly she was getting after hours with some of the guys, he'd have a fit…but only because he wasn't getting a cut of the profits.

For Chibs, he didn't know which was more disturbing, watching a big-bosomed red head fumble on the private pole in their booth or watching Tig descend into his own private darkness. The look on his friend's face, as the dancer continued to grind him raw and jam her tongue down his throat, became one of predatory intensity. When the stripper leaned over and whispered something in his ear, Tig's mouth slid into a bone chilling grin. The song ended and she walked away but not before giving Tig one last teasing look.

"It is so fuckin' ON." Tig announced as he slammed back the last of his drink.

"In a better mood now? She's the one, huh?" Chibs asked. For years, Tig had mentioned some freak that he had met, a stripper that was into some deep dark shit. For the right price, she'd let you do damn near anything to her…and like it. Tig calling someone a freak was on par with the color calling of pots and kettles. This was the first time Chibs had actually laid eyes on the girl. "Pretty hot."

"You have no idea." Tig said playfully.

Chibs' eye twitched slightly as he heard the tone in Tig's voice. He didn't really care to for keeping company with Tig when he got like _this. _There was a danger…an unpredictability hanging over his friend like a dark cloud. He hung around for another hour before heading back to Charming and leaving Tig alone to wait for _Freak Girl_ to get off … so they could both _get off_.

_**XXX**_

After having locked the door behind Juice and the skank, err the _ACTRESS, _ it took every ounce of strength and restraint Vix could muster not to sink to the floor. Only the sheer will NOT to have them hear her sob carried her through the salon and up the stairs to her office. She quietly closed the door and with her back leaning against it, she slid to the floor as the tears streamed down her face. The tears turned to pounding sobs at the sound of his bike riding off into the night. _Clean breaks hurt less...but we got a jagged, splintered,hurtfull mess. _ Vix thought as tears continued to spill. She cried and she couldn't stop, she wondered if you could cry to the point of dehydration. At one point, she wiped her now red and swollen eyes and when her vision cleared she saw a wrapped package sitting on her desk. She hadn't noticed the gift before and her curiosity was piqued. Slowly getting to her feet, she walked over and sat down at her desk. In a very un-Vix like move she went for the card first… if it was from Juice she was half-liable to chuck it unopened right out the window. To her relief the card read:

_Congratulations on your Grand Opening! _

_You know we'd be there if we could but who would pass up 2__ND__ row, Center for The Eagles? – All the best! Last Call Larry and Corbin "Big Daddy" Jameson. _

Vix smiled slightly and sniffled a bit as she tore the paper off the box and opened the lid to find a big ol' bottle of Jack Daniels. Her eyes lit up. Not wanting to sink to the level of a complete hopeless drunk by drinking straight out of the bottle and yet not really feeling up to walking her ass the whole way down stairs to the break room, she looked around for a cup? Glass? Anything? When her eyes landed on her old _Aries_ coffee mug that had been re-assigned the duty of holding her pens – she shrugged. She grabbed it, upturned the contents on the desk and peered inside. A forceful blow into the mug removed any and all pen particles. Opening the bottle, she poured herself an extremely liberal mount and then sat back and drank it up. Using the remote control, she flipped on the radio just in time to hear Patti Smith singing a song that was hauntingly close to describing Vix's life to a T.

_There's a danger in lovin' somebody too much…_

_And it's sad when you know it's your heart you can't trust..._

_There's a reason why people don't stay where they are… _

_Baby, sometimes, love just ain't enough._

Vix sat and looked around. She'd worked so hard for all of this but in the end it apparently cost her more than she ever figured. She was heartbroken, single, mortgaged to the hilt, and knocking back _Tennessee Whiskey_ out of her pen holder. She shook her head and mumbled "_**Fuck My Life**_."

_**XXX**_

In a cheap hotel a few blocks from the strip club, a veritable _pop_ could be heard as Tig pulled his cock from the ass of the stripper who was currently bent over the bed. He leaned his back against the wall and tried to catch his breath. After a minute he wiped sweat from his brow, pulled off the condom and tossed it in the wastebasket by the bed.

He walked back over and looked down at the girl. She had crawled on the bed and was lying on her side. Her hands were tied behind her back, preventing her from really sprawling out. He reached out and grabbed the binds, roughly yanking her backwards off the bed. The bitch hit the floor on her knees with a thud and grunt. A slight whimper escaped her throat.

"Shhhh." Tig said quietly. "You did good." He started untying her hands and unbuckled his belt that he had wrapped around her neck.

She looked up at him as she fingered her throat carefully. "How bad's the mark?" she asked hoarsely.

Tig looked her neck over and shrugged. "A little worse than last time."

"I'm charging you extra for that shit." She warned as she stood up and rolled her shoulders.

"Whatever." Tig replied as he headed to the bathroom.

The girl stared after him and smiled slightly. Tig didn't come around often but when he did it was a night to remember and damn good money. She didn't really understand how a guy with such twisted desires could turn them off and on like Tig seemed to do. The thought of him functioning _normally_ was hard to fathom. But the in-frequency of his visits and the lack of a gossip trail within the sinister acts underground lead her to the conclusion that he was controlling himself pretty well. How a freak like Tig Trager could manage with a "normal girl" was puzzle wrapped in a paradox. The girl considered herself notches beyond hard core and yet every now and then Tig scared the shit out of her, but hell maybe that was the draw of it. She'd blow off the president of a bank for a nasty romp with the bad-ass biker.

Tig finished with his quick shower and set to getting dressed. He wiped the steam off the mirror and took a long hard look at himself. _So this is it? Your brilliant fucking life? Paying some fucked up stripper to let you do fucked up shit to her so you can try to stop thinking about how you fucked up the one good thing you ever had? Fucking pathetic._

He shook his head slightly. Jaci would have slapped him for even _mentioning _a quarter of the shit he had just done to the chick in the other room_._ But he guessed that was the point…what better way to shut down thoughts of HER than to drown them in shit, to do the exact opposite of anything she would ever go for. It was a cheap tactic but it worked, but oddly, the high was already quickly fading. He pulled his shirt on and sighed before heading back into the bedroom.

The stripper was kneeling on the bed, looking seductive…completely naked except for one thing…_**Tig's cut**_. She ran her finger along the leather vest's front and smiled at him.

Tig took a huge step forward, fully intending to rush the bitch, grab her by her throat, slam her against the wall, maybe even though it, and remove his beloved cut from her forcibly. That very scene played out instantly in crystal clear vision in his head. And yet for some reason he froze. He stood planted in the doorway to the bedroom gripping the doorframe so hard he full expected either it or his hands to break. In an ice cold voice that matched his stare he said, "You'll take THAT off NOW, if you know what's good for you."

The tone of his voice was more threatening than anything she'd ever heard before and for a girl willing to do what she did, that was saying a LOT. She kept her eyes on him, waiting for him to make a move but he stayed put. She slipped the vest off and held it in front of her with shaking hands, suddenly realizing she had crossed a very, very bad line.

Tig motioned curtly with his finger for her to move to the opposite side of the room. He didn't trust himself anywhere within arms reach of the bitch. She complied and he crossed the distance to the bed and grabbed his cut. He pulled it on. "Playin' dress up with my shit will cost you." He tossed something onto the table and strolled out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

She walked to the table and looked down at what Tig had left…a single dollar bill. She let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. A dollar tip was a slap in the face but at this point she felt touched by an angel to still be breathing at all.

"Stupid fuckin' bitch." Tig hissed as he fired up his bike outside. He revved the bike loudly. He shook his head and laughed without humor. The only reason that stripper's jaw wasn't broken right now was because of Jaci… 'cause every now and then, with no rhyme or goddamn reason, bits of that stupid conscience she had brought back to life in him reared its ugly head and made him think twice on some shit. _How's that for fuckin' irony? The bitch I fucked to try to forget her owes Jaci for not having to eat everything through a fuckin' straw for the next 6 months. _

He ran his hands through his hair. Jaci would have never pulled a stunt like that with his cut; she knew better, knew cuts were to be respected. She had been fucking perfect in that respect, she knew the rules of the MC, how to act around it, what the Club meant to him, what it meant to her. She had understood his lifestyle, had tried so hard to understand _him. _Hell she had even respected him on some level, not that he deserved an ounce of it. But none of that mattered, he had pushed her away, now he had to live with the fallout…desperate midnight bullshit with stupid hookers and weekly romps with crow eaters that he couldn't trust farther than he could throw them…literally.

"_**Goddamnit, Fuck My Life." **_

_**XXX**_

Rachel stared at the TV, "I can't believe HE is our Governor."

Jaci laughed from her kicked back perch on the sofa. "No shit. Compared to today's movies, these things are God awful… not that they weren't even then. Vix loves old school Schwartzenegger and Stallone, Van Damme. Hell, she had a Bruce Lee fetish for years."

Headlights flash on the wall and Jaci smirked. "Speak of the devil... took her long enough to straighten up the salon."

A few minutes later, they were greeted by a ring of the door bell and not the sound of Vix's key in the lock. Rachel and Jaci exchanged a look. Jaci pulled herself off the sofa and headed for the door. She opened it to find Sheriff Unser standing on her porch practically holding up a very intoxicated looking Vix. Her little sister laughed and announced in very slurred speech, "Drank a fifth of Jack…Devil dared me to drive."

"Jesus Christ!"The exclamation escaped Jaci's lips along with a groan. "Seriously?"

Unser nodded. "Sorry to show up like this but I figured home'd be a bit better place for her to sober up than my holding cell."

"Doubt that." Vix scoffed. "I told 'im you're more hostile than any prison warden could ever be… and I got like a life sentence with you, chica."

"Yeah well THAT LIFE coulda been cut real damn short tonight." Jaci pointed out not bothering to cover the harsh quality of her voice.

"Fuckin' whatever." Vix hissed. "YOU are a total buzz kill, man." Her speech was slurred and she eyed her sister hard. "I blame Wendy, whose Fuck Up brought us to this god-forsaken town. And I blame, you…" She jammed her finger at Jaci. "I blame YOU for … for… loving me enough to back my stupid ass salon buying idea that now has me trapped in this town for-fuckin-ever… where I have to watch HIM and his Cara Cara Cunt, excuse me _ACTRESS_… parade their shit up and down god damn Main Street and shove it down my thoat! Why do you have to be soooo supportive Jaci, why? Why can't you just be self-absorbed like everydamnbody else on the planet." Vix tossed a glare at Unser. "Go ahead, you can blame her, too. She enacted Prohibition HERE, forcing me to drink elsewhere and drive."

Vix pushed her way past her sister and Rachel and headed down the hall to her bedroom. She slammed the door for effect.

Jaci and Rachel looked to the Chief of Police for clarification.

Unser sighed, "Spotted her out by the water tower… swerving all over the place and driving about a mile slower than Dale Earnhardt Jr, on a Sunday afternoon."

"This goin' on her record?" Jaci asked with a sigh.

"No. Although it should, she coulda killed herself or somebody else operating a car in her current condition. I looked up her Motor Vehicle Record, this citation would put her way over the points limit. She'd lose her license for six months and be required to take Alcohol Awareness classes. Thought _**this once**_, I could look the other way. Thought maybe you could talk to her." He shrugged, "She's just be lucky it was ME and not Hale who pulled her over."

Jaci groaned, "Thanks Wayne. We appreciate it…both of us. I'll let her sleep it off tonight, talk to her tomorrow. She's been taking the break up with Juice very hard, and well… I am not making excuses for her behavior but…"

"Yeah, you kinda are." Unser patted Jaci on the shoulder. "But just keep an eye on her, tonight coulda ended badly."

Jaci nodded.

"I left her car out on the side of the road about a half mile past the water tower. Made sure it was locked up, it should be safe there over night but if you want me to have it towed here, you know where I'm gonna have to call."

Jaci grimaced. "Nah, best let those sleepin' dogs lie. We'll get it in the morning."

"Ok then ladies, I'll bid you goodnight."

The sheriff left and the girls went back inside with Jaci closing the door softly. Her BP that had graciously given her a few hours of peace was now jacked the-fuck-up and she was honestly scared to take her pulse. If the thumping in her ears was any indication, her heart was doing The Conga. Suddenly she had had her fill of bullshit and pushed off the door. She stalked down the hall to her sister's room and threw open the door. She found Vix sitting in the middle of her bed, back against the headboard…crying.

Her heart would have broken at the sight if her sister's snarky comment of "Knock much?" hadn't quelched her natural soothing instinct.

Jaci stood hands on her hips and glared at her baby sister "I'll knock your damn head against the wall if you don't stop this shit."

Vix rolled her eyes and glared. "Yes, Mom. No wait! Mama woulda been playin' bartender … pourin' the damn drinks, right?"

Jaci held up her hand. "I've had enough of the BOTH of us hanging shit on our past. Yeah we mighta had a jacked up child hood but who the fuck's child hood was perfect? No fuckin' bodies… so spare me the dysfuctional family bullshit and take responsibility for your own damn actions. You coulda killed yourself or somebody else, Vix. And I just stood out there and made excuse for you with the Chief of Damn Police."

"Well who asked ya?" Vix snapped. "If I could drink in MY house I wouldn't need to drink and drive. I had a rough goddamn night. Juice…"

Jaci cut her off, "While we're at it… let's stop piling all of this on Juice too. It sucks what happened but it's time to get over it. Seriously, he acted half-way decent at the opening today.."

"Right!" Vix laughed. "Well THAT was THEN. I was doin' real good 'til him and his new porn star girlfriend accosted me in my damn salon."

Both Jaci and Rachel sucked in startled breaths. Jaci shook her head in an attempt to get her brain to wrap around these newly released facts. Apparently the head shake was a Parker Family Trait.

Rachel stared at her friend, "What the fuck did they want, a threesome or some shit?"

Vix shrugged and then hugged her knees to her chest. "I don't know, Juice scared the crap outta me when I found him there. And I thought at first he was gonna apologize but then, as normal, that whole conversation went sideways. I mean you normally require a crystal ball and a roadmap to venture into one of our conversations but…. Well then that bitch shows up…"

Her voice faltered, "She showed up there to pick him up… as if it was the normalest thing on the planet… so they could _hang out and do other things. _Even stressed that it was a continuing thing… _AGAIN, _fuckin' whore." Vix shook her head sadly, "I told him flat out he can do better than that skank. Then the bitch tried to step to me."

Jaci and Rachel both stared at Vix as she continued her little tirade. "_I'm a ACTRESS! _Yeah and and I'm a Rock Star!" She noticed the worried glances of her sister and her friend. "What?"

"You weren't drinking that fifth of JD as a toast over their dead bodies, were ya?" Rachel questioned.

"Drinking don't solve any problems, Vix." Jaci chided.

Vix rolled her eyes and stood up on wobbly legs. She waved her sister off. "Oh, don't you go all fuckin'_ Jehovah_ on me. You hit the bottle HARD when Tig dumped your ass AND you hid out in O-town for months. I DON"T HAVE THAT LUXUARY!"

Jaci started to fire back at her sister but instead she just slumped her back against the bedroom wall. Suddenly she was fighting an internal panic as the 'episode' that had started the moment she shut the front door behind Unser started getting worse. She switched from trying to reprimand to just trying to calm down.

"What's wrong? You getting too MAD? Gonna go all HULK on me?" Vix cocked her head and laughed. In an imitation of a guy's BIG voice, she continued taunting her older sister, "'_You wouldn't like me when I'm mad!_. Vix slammed her fists together. "HULK SMASH!"

Knowing she'd have a better shot at nailing jello to a tree then talking sense to a drunk, Jaci just flipped her sister off and walked out of the room. "Get your head outta your ass."

Vix eyed her sister's back as she left. "What's her problem?"

"Not to quote the Beatles, but it's been a Hard Day's Night. Go to sleep." Rachel said and left the room as well.

_**XXX**_

Unser backed out of the drive at Parker Place onto Elm Street. A Harley could be heard in the distance, anything BUT an odd occurrence in the town. As he slowed to a stop where Elm intersected with Laurel Street, he watched Tig Trager ride by.

Tig rumbled by the entrance to Elm Street. He didn't even bother slowing down as the Chief's car pulled onto the street behind him. Tig shook his head and smirked to himself. _The Parker Sisters, man. They're one Nightmare on Elm Street that even ol' Freddy'd steer clear of if he had a goddamn brain._

_**XXX**_

Jaci had spent fifteen minutes sitting in the floor of her bathroom. Her head was splitting and she had waited to see if she would hurl or just pass out from her latest 'spell'. Finally the pain lifted and she pushed up to her feet and headed for bed. She laid on her back in bed with the palms of her hands resting on her eyes. _How much crazy shit can we cram in one day? Is it not possible just to have a GOOD day? Always gotta be some damn dramatic twist…Beautiful salon opening…but let's have the damn MC crash the party, my little sister's dream comes true but then her asshole ex has to piss on the parade with a porn star! So Vix's playing drunken NASCAR driver while our junkie sister won't show her face in town- even though her baby son resides here, so there's no damn telling what she's up to and Tig's still being a dick and I'm just trying NOT to stroke the fuck out. FUCK MY LIFE!_

Jaci grabbed the pillow next to her and slammed it over her face; it muffled her scream of frustration very well. A second later, a pang of guilt hit her. Roxy would have her ass for saying something like _Fuck my life; _she'd look at that as essentially spitting in the eye of God and forsaking all the blessings He had given them. Jaci took a ton of deep breaths and finally settled down.

She sighed and tossed the pillow aside and stared up at the ceiling. She steepled her hands against her head, old habits were hard to break, and her lips began to move.

_Hey God...it's me. Sorry about that little fuck my life comment. Just a little bit frustrated, you know, hanging out here waiting to see if my head will actually physically explode or not. I know I take on too much sometimes so if this is just your way of telling me to slow down and chill out, I totally get it. I don't know what the heck is wrong with me, but I'm really hoping you haven't decided to throw something super awful my way. I mean, if it's a trade off sorta thing, like I have to have THIS so some little kid doesn't have to lose a leg or something then that's cool. But please let me at least be AROUND. _

_You KNOW I've got people to take care of, right? There's Wendy and Abel and I thought Vix was all good but now we've hit this HUGE Juice snag and if she starts turning back the way she used to be, drinking and whoring around, you KNOW I gotta be around to head that shit off. I'll be a good girl and go to the doctor tomorrow with Tara, ok? But any slack you could cut me in the serious illness category would be greatly appreciated, deal?_

Jaci blew out a deep breath. Some people might laugh at the way she prayed but that was how Roxy had taught her to do it when she was five. _Just talk to the Big Guy like he's your buddy. You don't have to be all formal and shit. _Jaci was far from religious; she actually kinda detested organized religion, too many hypocrites for her liking and she couldn't grasp the idea of all the different religions and someone supposedly being RIGHT and all the others being WRONG. But she did believe that there was a higher power of SOME sort and to each their own and all that jazz. So she talked to the Man Upstairs on occasion and in her mind He didn't mind bluntness and profanity. Actually she was fairly certain He couldn't stand bullshitters, so she always shot straight with Him. Most times the little chats helped, although she didn't know if it was divinity or just talking out her issues that gave her clarity.

She recited her normal prayers for family and friends, the stock requests of watch over so and so and keep so and so safe and healthy, etc. At the end of the list she bit her lip,

_Ok...and I KNOW I said I was done with him...but could you please smack Tig over the head with a lightning bolt or do SOMETHING to make him less of an asshole? I don't know what the heck is wrong with that boy so, as always, any insight you could give me would be appreciated. I know I've been praying for clarity with him and then I was praying for bodily harm to come his way and I KNOW that was wrong and I'll try to stop doing it. I guess I'm just putting all of it in your hands. You and I both know there's more to him that what's on the surface. It'd be nice if you could just FIX him. _

Another sigh escaped her and she was beginning to feel sleepy.

_Ok, I've bent your ear enough tonight. Take care...and if Vix is sending up some drunken rant to you right now, just tune her out, she doesn't know what she's saying. Amen. _

**EASY, LIKE SUNDAY MORNING**

Bobby was up early and puttering around his house. He was clad in a short, silk Japanese inspired _MAN _robe that was belted low around his big, Buddha belly and wore house shoes. He sang to himself as he strolled into the kitchen, heated up the stove and cracked a few eggs into a skillet**.**

_Oooh, that's why I'm easy... _

_I'm easy like Sunday morning._

_That's why I'm eeeeeaaaaassssyyyyy_

_I'm easy like Sunday Morning... _

_Why in the word would anybody put chains on me?_

_I've paid my dues to make it…._

_**XXX**_

Vix's cell phone alarm roared to life extremely early. She groaned and after two attempts she managed to slide the phone open and press the off button. Going back to sleep was not an option, she was awake now. She rolled over and stared at the ceiling of her bedroom with a sigh. Her _Sunday _alarm was set at this ungodly hour because she had been regularly attending church with Ruby and The Olds. She'd really grown to love that group of bat ass crazy seniors and now that it was overly apparent that there would be no reconciliation between her and Juice, she knew she'd lose them too. By default of Ruby being blood kin to Juice, he'd win her in the "divorce" and with her came the rest of The Olds. Acknowledging both of those things made her feel very empty inside and the need to run filled her. She snatched her keys off the kitchen counter and walked into the garage but her Charger was nowhere to be found… _Mothershitfuck!_

**XXX**

Jaci bounded out of her bedroom and did a quick sweep of the house. She didn't find Vix anywhere and as she walked out the front door and saw Rachel's car still parked in the driveway, she wondered where the hell her little sister was. _What the fuck? Her car's still out by the freakin water tower. _She had totally missed the note Vix had left for her so she tried Vix's cell but got voice mail. She left a quick message just as Tara was pulling up to pick her up for the doctor's appointment.

_**XXX**_

Having set his table and prepared his breakfast, Bobby headed out to snag the newspaper from his porch before he settled in to eat. He walked out to get the newspaper on his front porch, still singing…

_Yeah! oooh, that's why I'm easy,_

_I'm easy like Sunday morning…that's why I'm eeeeeaaaaasssssyyyyy…_

_I'm easy like Sunday Morning._

He looked up and saw Juice's bike parked on the street out front. Juice was laid back in the grass nearby, exhaling smoke rings. Sighing to himself, Bobby hollered out, "Ya know, if I wanted a lawn ornament, I'da picked one better lookin' than you!"

Juice sat up and turned to look back at Bobby. "Hey…. you got a minute."

"Yep, but something tells me this is gonna take a lot longer than that." Bobby headed back to his house. "Come on in.. the eggs are getting cold."

Juice got to his feet and flicked his cigarette butt to the street as he headed into the house. Joining Bobby in the kitchen, he eyed the shorty robe and shook his head, "Dude, please tell me you at least got shorts on under there. No way in hell do I want to catch an eye full of your _man junk_."

.

Bobby ignored the comment and inserted bread into the toaster, "So what's on your mind?"

"Vix." Juice replied without hesitation, "Can't get her off my goddamn mind and it fuckin' sucks. I can't figure out how to fix this shit between us and I... I got no one else to turn to, man."

Bobby smirked, "What about Yoda Tig? You've found him full of wisdom as of late."

The toast popped up and Bobby grabbed it, slapping butter on it as he listened to the kid.

"Tig's advice sucks! I'm pretty sure he gives it _knowing _it's complete shit just for the pleasure of watching the aftermath."

Bobby nodded, "Umm hmm… wouldn't doubt it."

"And well, Chibs' advise of _just talk to her _totally backfired. I was thinking about going to talk to Jax, but he's been acting odd and seems more apt to kick my ass than tell me what to do. And besides, he probably thinks Vix is better off without me or some shit. And going strickly by appearances he'd be right. She seems ok on the surface but this shit between us ain't just surface deep and well no way in hell am I goin' to Opie. Dude just lost his wife, I am not about to ask him advise on how to fix my LOVE LIFE."

Juice sighed and continued. "And I DID ask Piney, but the guy laughed at me and said that last time he dated was during the _Regan administration_ and look where it got him. He's a lonely, bitter old bastard… what does he know?"

When the kid stopped rambling, Bobby nodded his head, contemplating the kid, "So I'm the last one on the list... bottom of the advise chain. Makes me feel all warm and cuddly."

Juice nodded. "Sorry, it's just… your known for to be Pro-Parker and…"

"And what the Hell is wrong with that? You know if that list had been inverted in the first place, you wouldn't be in this pickle. If you had used the brain God gave ya and thought about shit first, asked the obvious questions instead of going all Neanderthal …. "

"I know. So…?"

Bobby pushed a plate of food in front of Juice. "Listen while you eat. You know you're probably gonna balk at my advice, right? The advice you need to heed is normally the last thing you want to hear and certainly the furtherest from what you want to do."

Juice paused mid bite... and then swallows hard. "Let her go, right? That's what your advice is gonna be?"

Bobby nodded. "You know the person on the receiving end of that advice about _if you love something set it free - if it comes back it was yours if it don't it never was? _He probably wanted to kick his adviser in the balls. But why do you think that saying is so well known, even now, all these years later?"

"Cause it's true?"

"Jackpot, if that advice had been complete shit... it have never been repeated brother."

"It fuckin' sucks, dude." Juice said with a sigh.

"Mmmm hmmm." Bobby nodded. "Every action has a consequence and the one your stuck with is ridin' solo for a while. And by _solo_ I mean knock the shit off with the porno chicks and really with the crow eaters. If you want Vix back, you gotta honor that, man. Don't disrespect her on her own turf or let what happens _abroad_ filter back to her. Vix showed UN-NATURAL amounts of restraint yesterday at the salon opening when she did the math and got wise to Ms. Cara Cara but…" He noticed a look on the kid's face. "What?"

"The salon opening is the least of what happened yesterday." Juice quickly filled Bobby in on the unfortunate events of later that evening, at which Bobby just groaned and shook his head.

"Well I think the one positive spin that I can put on that story is that when you fuck up, you give it 100% effort. That and you must be a pretty good lay since fate seems to like fuckin' ya."

Juice slumped his shoulders.

"Look, the advice is still the same. Just knowing how the night ended... it may take Vix longer to come around. It is goes against Vix's grain to let things slide... like I said she showed remarkable grace at the opening. And the fact that your ass is in my kitchen and not buried in some shallow ditch right along side the dim-wit porn chick, well THAT was DEVINE INTERVENTION or something. Vix ever lets you within three paces of her, I'd check her over for _Stepford_ level body tampering."

Bobby stood up and started clearing away the breakfast dishes, singing once again.

_Y__eah! Oooh, that's why I'm easy, I'm easy like Sunday morning…_

_Tthat's why I'm eeeeeaaaaasssssyyyyy…_

_I'm easy like Sunday Mooooorrrrrrning... _

_I wanna be high... so high..._

_I wanna be free to know the things I do are right_

_I wanna be free, just me_

_Oh, babe…_

**XXX**

Tig woke up with a start. He frowned and tried to recall the dream he had been having but it eluded him. He stared at the ceiling and got the distinct feeling that something was wrong. He grunted and rolled out of bed, walking naked to the bathroom. He finished taking a piss and stood in the bathroom with a scowl on his face. _Goddamnit…what the fuck is off here? _He shook his head and got the shower to running and mused on the odd feeling he was having. He dried off five minutes later and walked back into his bedroom. He was throwing fresh clothes onto the bed when his eyes landed on the clock.

9AM….THAT was the fucking problem. It was SUNDAY and only 9AM and not only was Tig awake, he wasn't hung over…he was completely alert. He used to like Sundays…he would spend them alone being lazy or sneaking time with Jaci. But for months now, he had come to hate the seventh day of the week. Being alone for him had turned to a bad thing…being alone and sober meant he had time to think about shit. Lately he made sure he spent his Saturday nights getting drunk as shit so that he would spend his Sundays sleeping all day. By the time he would finally drag his hung over ass out of bed, it was time to grab something to eat, hang at the clubhouse for a while and then go back to bed.

Tig got dressed and stood in the middle of his bedroom with his hands on his hips struggling with the unfamiliar feeling of the day. _Awake before noon and sober…what the fuck do I do now?_ He knew he couldn't stay in the house alone all day, his brain couldn't handle that. He stalked to the kitchen and grabbed the keys to his bike.

**XXX**

Jaci and Tara sat side by side in the lobby of the clinic at St. Thomas; since it was Sunday there was no other option, no private doctors were open for business. Jaci finished completing the patient paperwork and waited for her name to be called. Thirty minutes later a nurse opened the door and poked her head out, "Jaci Parker?"

She stood and took a deep breath as she glanced at the nurse and then to Tara. Tara gave her a small encouraging smile but looked like she wanted to tag along. Jaci nodded toward the exam rooms. "Come on, I'm gonna tell you everything anyway. Might as well hear it first, hell ask questions if you want." The girls headed toward the nurse and Jaci said quietly, "Besides, I'm suddenly feeling a bit chickenshit."

**XXX**

At Gemma and Clay's house, Gemma stood pouring herself another cup of coffee in the kitchen.

She looked over to her husband and tried to think of something to talk about. "So…I guess I owe the guys a thank you for their good behavior at the Vix's Grand Opening yesterday?"

"Vix's Grand Opening…sounds like a whorehouse instead of a salon." Clay mused with a snort as he looked over the morning paper. "Yeah the boys' good manners were just brimming over. But I think we still managed to piss Zoebell off, gave him the evil eye."

Before Gemma could respond, there was a knock at the back door. She turned around and saw Tig give a curt wave from outside. Surprise washed over her face. "Uh…it's Tig."

Clay frowned and checked his watch as Gemma glanced at the clock on the wall. They looked at each other with curiosity.

"Well this can't be anything good." Clay mumbled and headed for the kitchen and let Tig inside. "Morning, sunshine…little early for you ain't it?"

"Yeah, sorry man." Tig said sheepishly. He caught Gemma staring at him with slight concern. "Oh nothing's wrong…just thought I'd see what was going on today."

Clay laughed and headed back to the kitchen table. "It's before noon on a Sunday and you're out and about…that's not WRONG?"

"Well…it's definitely different." Tig admitted as Gemma handed him a cup of coffee. He settled into the chair to Clay's left…just like at Chapel. The trio made small talk and commented on the topics of interest from the morning paper for a little bit.

"So what's going on today?" Tig asked for the second time since arriving. He needed a distraction like a junkie needed a hit.

"Dunno…guess we could go on down to the garage, mess with that…" Clay started to suggest.

Gemma interjected. "If you two are just itching for something to do today, those shrubs in the backyard still haven't miraculously uprooted themselves from my flowerbeds."

Clay groaned. "Goddamn shrubs, shit. Alright alright…we'll call the Prospect and get him over here. I'll get the chainsaw ready."

Tig's ears perked up at the mention of a chainsaw. Suddenly hard manual labor and power tools sounded like a very good idea to him. "I thought the Prospect was banned from chainsaws since the deer head incident? Don't get that dumbass down here…he'll end up slicing through your damn phones lines or some shit." Tig finished off his coffee and pulled off his cut, draping it over the kitchen chair. "I'll do it, no problem." He announced and headed for the back door.

**XXX**

Vix was jogging down the main road that led out of town. She was thinking perhaps the part of her that wanted to cut and run so badly the night before had persuaded her to drive towards the city limit sign like the bat outta hell, Unser had declared her. She heard the Harley before she saw it, but not soon enough to duck outta sight. _Damnit, well fuck 'em._ She kept on running.

Kipp was out and about early, returning from some crazy club assignment in Pope when he saw a chick running. Even clad in light weight sweats and a hoodie, he harbored an instant admiration for her form. He glanced back and as he caught sight of her face he locked the brakes up instantly - both on the lewd thought that had been wafting thru his brain and on his bike. He stopped a few yards in front of her.

Vix rolled her eyes at The Prospect and kept jogging past him.

"Vix?" He called after her. When she didn't respond, he sighed and climbed off his bike to run after her. "Vix...hey Vix! VIX! Oh for the love of Christ, will you just stop?"

She stopped running and bent over with her hands on her sides to catche her breath. As he got closer, she stood up straight and glared at him. "What, Kipp? What do you want?"

"Are you ok?"

Thinking over the last 24 hours... hell, the last several weeks, she sneered and replied. "Yeah! Just peachy!"

"Is um, someone chasing you?" He questioned.

She did a double take at him and then turned and stared down the dead road in the direction from which they'd both come. "Does it look like it?"

Kipp scratched his head and looked down the road, "Um, ok... no. So why are you running?"

Vix rolled her eyes again. _Oh my fuckin' God! _ "I don't know, to burn off energy or that fifth of Jack D, I downed last night. Why do you care? Gonna go rat out my exercise regimen to your boys?"

Kipp shook his head no but Vix smirked. "Sure you will. Well here... take a good look at my ass as I run along. Better make sure you nail THAT description cause I've got killer 'glutes, right?"

His body involuntarily answered her question as he nodded but then he frowned and shook his head _no. _He knew any description made by him regarding Vix's ass would end very badly for him when word of it got back to Juice.

Vix eyes him, "Whatever. So seriously, what do you want? I've got like three hours before I open my salon for my first official day of business and I need to find my car."

"Someone stole your car?"

"Well, that's at least a _less_ stupid question... NO! I misplaced it... kinda. It's somewhere in Charming.. I just don't know exactly where."

"Charming is 22 square miles... are you planning on footing it?"

"I don't have a plan, Kipp." She tossed her hands in the air. "Every plan I make goes to shit... so I am just gonna fly by the seat of my pants and..."

"Doesn't that constitute a plan… on flying by the seat of your pants?"

"Anymore idiotic questions out of you will constitute an ass kickin.'" She warned. "Look, to quote Henry Darling... I'm burning daylight here... so, I gotta go."

She took off running again and he tagged along beside her. "Don't! Look, I'll help ya find your car. Let's grab my bike; it'll be quicker that way."

Vix stopped and stared at him, "Why would you want to help me? The same guy who FUBAR'd my life now wants to help me? Excuse me if I tell ya to kiss off."

Kipp nodded and laced his fingers together as he held the top of his head, trying to keep his brains from falling out. "I deserve that."

"Damn Skippy you do!"

He sighed."Look, I never meant for this to spiral outta control. I, I just wanted Juice to keep a close eye on you. That professor of yours is a total skeeze... hittin' on you like that in public, trying to …seduce you, even after you mentioned you were hooked up with Juice."

"You think I didn't realize that? You thought I'd fall for that shit?" Vix questioned. "I knew what he was doing and it was harmless and leading no where. Connor ain't my type. And for your information, it takes more than a hard dick and a pulse to tap this ass." She exhaled deeply. "I loved Juice... still fuckin' do!" She waved her hands around. "Don't matter though, none of it, not your apology or my explanation. He's all happy with his porno chick and…" That statement stung and she had to pause.

Kipp was suddenly laughing and she glared at him."WHAT THE HELL IS FUNNY?"

He chuckled, "You said Porno Chicken."

"What?"

"You said Juice is happy with his Porno Chicken."

"No I didn't. I said Porno Chick and..."

A giggle escaped Vix as she realizes her unfortunate need to pause caused a cosmically silly moment. They were both soon cracking up on the side of the road. Vix nodded and wiped her eyes. "Juice and his Porno Chicken!"

Half Sack smiled and nodded. "Yep! Juice and his Porno Chicken. Come on." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Let me help you find your car... I can at least try to fix that. Besides, if I leave you out here the entire MC will have my ass."

**XXX**

The doctor breezed into the exam room a bit later. Jaci sat on the exam table with Tara in a chair to her left. The doctor greeted Tara first and then shook Jaci's hand. He asked her what brought her in and with a fellow doctor for a chaperone no less.

Jaci explained her symptoms: horrible headaches, irritability, weird arm sensations, dizziness, etc. The doctor frowned as he placed situated the blood pressure cuff on Jaci's arm. He began pumping up the contraption and his expression soon turned to surprise as he got a read on her blood pressure. He half smiled and muttered that the reading couldn't be right. He started pumping up the cuff again.

_Goddamnit, what's the reading when you cut off my fucking circulation? _Jaci thought as the cuff cut into her arm.

The doctor frowned again and released the last bit of pressure from the cuff. "Do you have a headache right now?"

"Yeah, but just a little one; nothing too bad."

"What was her blood pressure?" Tara asked with concern.

"162/112." The doctor said bluntly. Tara's eyes widened. "If your headaches are getting worse than they are right now that makes me believe your blood pressure is getting even higher."

Jaci reminded them she was the non-doctor in the room. "Soooo, what's it supposed to be?"

"120/80."" Tara replied with a nervous smile.

"Oh." Jaci said and then smirked. "Guess I flunked that test then huh?"

"Well, I've got another test for you." The doctor said as he started to walk to the door. "There are several reasons why a person's blood pressure could be elevated, especially at your somewhat young age. For women, sometimes a pregnancy could be the culprit."

The smirk fell from Jaci's face instantly. "But I'm on the Pill."

"When was your last period?"

Jaci's brain was frozen for a moment and then jump started again. "Um…" She frowned as she realized she couldn't remember if she had had a normal cycle in awhile. "I think I might have missed a month?" She glanced at Tara, whose lips were forming an O.

"Well, we'll find out soon enough, won't we?" The doctor said as he exited and shut the door. A moment later, a nurse walked in and asked Jaci to follow her. Jaci shot Tara a worried look as she complied.

**XXX**

Gemma heard the chainsaw roar to life in the backyard and walked over to the window to watch Tig begin to rip through the shrubs. She glanced at Clay who stood to her left. "Tigger's voluntering for domestic shit?"

Clay let out a sigh. "Hope you're happy…it's your fault he's acting so weird." She cocked an eyebrow. Clay pointed at her. "It was YOUR brilliant idea to force him to go to that damn open house. I'm pretty sure he talked to Jaci while he was there…now his head's all fucked up again."

"When is his head NOT fucked up?"

"Funny. She fucks with his head in an _extra special way_, how's that?" Clay retorted sarcastically. "And now I'll have to hear it all damn day."

"He talks to you about her?" Gemma asked, disbelievingly.

"Hell no…Tig's goddamn leg could be on fire and he wouldn't talk about it…he'll talk AROUND it."

Gemmed snorted. "Well…send him in here to me later…I'll talk to him about her."

"Not happenin'." Clay said with finality as he headed outside to supervise his friend. The Prospect might do something stupid with a chainsaw…Tig would do something devious.

**XXX**

Ten minutes later, Jaci trudged back into the room with her head hung low and a bandage in the crook of her arm. She climbed onto the exam table and sighed.

"And?" Tara asked, the worry heavy in her voice.

"Don't know yet." Jaci shrugged. "Gave a urine sample and blood. They said they'd check for a baby and run all sorts of level tests on the blood work. The tests are gonna take a while but doc'll will drop by in a few minutes to go over family history." She rolled her eyes.

"Oh."

Jaci's heart was pounding as she sat on the exam table and stared down at the floor. For some reason, she couldn't meet Tara's eyes. She held her arms close to her chest and picked at her bottom lip with her fingers. A steady chant of _holy shit, holy shit, holy shit_ started to roll through her head. She'd always worried about Vix getting knocked up, not herself. Smart and careful girls like herself didn't do stupid things like get knocked up by psycho bikers! She swallowed hard and panic fell out of her mouth. "Jesus Christ…if I'm knocked up, Tig's the baby daddy. We fuckin' _hate_ each other now. Oh damnit, what did I do?"

Tara winced as she saw the nerves overtake her friend. She shook off the shock and tried to be helpful. "Now wait a minute...you guys have been broken up for a while, right? When's the last time you slept with him… or anyone else?"

"There hasn't _been_ anyone else and it was a couple of months ago…the last time with Tig." Her brain flashed to the near hookup with Chibs. _Amen to good brakes, that's all I need, to not know WHO the father is. Goddamnit, I'm such a fucking idiot._

"Are you having any symptoms like you might be pregnant?"

"You mean OTHER than the missed period, high blood pressure and weird feelings?"Jaci snapped.

"Any morning sickness? Weight gain?"

Jaci shook her head. "Well I probably put on a few pounds but that could be from drinking a lot and not exercising. Oh shit! Drinking while pregnant, that's fuckin' brilliant."

Tara shook her head. "I don't think you're pregnant…I mean, if it's been that long since you've been with him. You should be having morning sickness by now."

"But some people don't right?" Jaci asked with worry in her voice. "I was actually watching this show on TLC the other night. This chick didn't know she was pregnant until she started GIVING BIRTH! What if that's me? What if I'm some sort of freak? Ah shit, I'm gonna be sick."

Tara held her hand out. She'd never seen Jaci loose her cool like this before. "Calm down. It's ok, it's gonna be ok."

Jaci laughed. "Are you fucking kidding me? I could be carrying Tig Trager's baby! How the FUCK is that ok?" She put her hands on top of her head and closed her eyes. Silence fell in the room and a few moments later, Jaci was calmed down a bit. She swung her legs and kicked the exam table softly. "Ok, sorry for the little freak out. I'm just going to chill out and see what the test says. If it's negative, then lesson learned and condoms will forever be used in tandem with the Pill no matter WHOM I'm sleeping with. If it's positive, fair warning…I'm going to lose my mind."

Tara gave her an uneasy look, finally Jaci asked _what_ and the doctor was honest. "I was just thinking…I don't think I'd touch Tig without a condom. He has…a bit of a reputation."

"Yeah, well…the heat of the moment with Tig is very…well, HOT and sometimes good judgment falls to the wayside. And then once you start down that slippery slope, it's hard to get back on track."

_**XXX**_

He'd been watching her most of the day. He had business that took him past her hair salon quite frequently. When he estimated she was about done, given the shortened hours of operation on a Sunday, he pulled to a stop in front of Twisted Scissors and walked inside.

Vix was sweeping up after her third to last appointment on her first official day open when she heard the chimes ring. She glanced over her shoulder and rolled her eyes, "I'm not drunk no more...see?" She struck one of those Stupid Human Trick poses that cops just love to make drunk drivers try.

Wayne Unser chuckled. "Good to know... seein' as how you're wielding scissors and workin' with chemicals."

Vix resumes a normal stance and eyed him up, "So whatcha want, Chief?"

"Been watchin'... business looks real promising."

"Yeah it does... and praise be that, right? I need to be making some money and the people of this town need their hair cared for. Speaking of, you lookin' for a trim or somethin'? I'm booked solid through next Saturday but I could squeeze ya in."

"Um, no!" Unser chuckled. "No offense or anything, I've heard good things about your work. It's just I've got a bit of a monogamous relationship with Floyd."

Vix smiled, "Wouldn't want to be caught cheating with me. So if you're not here to get beautified, why are ya here? Wait if it's about last night... I definitely owe you a debt of gratitude. I know exactly how close I am in points to havin' my license yanked for a spell. That stupid ten-miles-over-the-limit in a construction zone bullshit. Anyway, I may have not been too appreciative last night but in the light of day, I really am. Thanks, Chief."

Unser nodded. "We've all been there, Vix. I heard what's been goin' on between you and Juice and I'm sorry 'bout all of that. He's a good fella, just a bit too easy for the other guys to influence for good or bad reasons."

Vix sighed, "Ya know Chief, I'm struggling real hard at havin' a good day and discussin' Juice ain't really aiding in that regard."

"Got something might cheer ya up...a little present." Unser held up his hands. "Now I'm not gonna lie, in accepting it you'd be helpin' me out too."

Vix eyed him suspiciously, "Excuse me if this is getting a bit weird.I, um.."

Unser nodded and held up a finger, "Hold that thought, I'll be right back." He shuffled outside as Vix looked on. A few moments later he returned with both hands behind his back, holdin' something.

Vix continued where she'd been forced to let off, "Look Chief, I appreciate whatever you're tryin' to do to cheer me up but I ain't never gotten a gift without some sorta strings attached and well, right now I am turnin' over a new leaf, tryin' to stand on my own. Ya know stringless? My goal is to not be a puppet and so..."

From behind Unser's back she heard a small whine and a bark. Vix cocked an eyebrow, "Um, did your back just bark?"

Unser grinned and brought his hands around where he held a Doberman puppy. Vix stared at the pup and then at Unser. "You're givin' me a puppy?"

The Chief shrugged. "You look like you could use a friend and this little fella is the last of my very last litter. See when I mentioned that in accepting you'd be helping me out too? I really don't have the time or energy to give his pup the attention he deserves. Breeding and raising dogs, that was Della's thing."

Vix looked up from staring at the pup, she'd caught the change in the Chief's tone of voice, read-between-the-lines so to speak. "_W__as_ Della's thing... she not into it no more?" Vix questioned softly.

"Something like that. So I was thinking the two of you would be good for each other."

"You know how busy my life is right? That was pretty much what started my current ride on this shit roller coaster." Vix said with a laugh. "You think I got the time to give him the love he needs the attention he deserves?"

Unser handed the pup over to Vix and she was instantly the recipient of puppy kisses. He watched as the pup nuzzled at the girl's chin and nosed at her ear - breaking down her resolve. He smiled when she finally sighed and said, "Well I guess he could spend his days here with me and when I am at school, Rachel is here. He's is a cute little guy... he gotta name?"

Unser smiled. "Been callin' him Little Fella but that ain't very original and well he ain't gonna be that little for very long. His daddy is a big ol' boy." The Chief chuckled. "You oughta ask Tig Trager 'bout him somday."

Vix sucked in her breath and stared at the pup and then at Unser recalling an old convo with Jaci, "His daddy is the one took a bite outta Tigger's ass?" She saw the Chief nod and she laughed and looked at the pup. "You're daddy is my hero!"

Unser chuckled, "Mine too. I got some food and bowls and a chew toy out in my car, I'll get 'em for ya. You want me to put 'em in your car?"

"If you know where it is, be my guest."

Unser stopped mid-stride, "Your sister didn't tell you? It's out by the water tower, "

Vix smirked, "The one damn road the Prospect and I didn't hit up this mornin'. I haven't spoken to my sister yet today, she ain't answered her damn phone."

"Well, after you close up shop do you want me to come get you, take you out to your car?"

"Half Sack's supposed to be stoppin' by."

Unser nodded watching Vix rub noses with the pup. "I'm gonna just grab his stuff, I'll sit it here next to the door."

"Yeah, mmm hmmm" Vix said without looking up. She walked to the salon chair and sat down holding her puppy tight.

_**XXX**_

The doctor walked back in the room. "So…do your parents have a history of high blood pressure?"

Jaci's head snapped around to face him. She raised her eyebrows at him but he didn't take the hint. She started to talk but her voice didn't work. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Um, they're deceased."

The doctor nodded. "OK, causes of death?"

Jaci's face scrunched. "Well, Mom..." She suddenly didn't want to admit to the fact that her mother had died of a drug overdose. "Um…she was killed in an accident." _There, half truth, good enough. _She tossed a glance at Tara and silently pleaded with her to go with it. "And Dad died unexpectedly...of a stroke...brain aneurism."

Tara's eyes bulged. "JACI! Your dad DIED from a stroke and you waited a MONTH to come to the doctor? Are you crazy?"

"My family's big on denial?" Jaci offered with a shrug. _Who gives a shit about my dead parents? Tell me the damn test results!_

The doctor continued with a long list of lifestyle questions. "Do you smoke?"

Jaci nodded, "Pack a day." Tara frowned at the newly acquired habit.

"'Do you drink?"

Again Jaci nodded but then shook her head instead. "I did...but I quit recently."

The doctor smiled. "And when was that?"

"That would be yesterday."

"Ahhh…so how much were you drinking before? Weekly, daily?"

Jaci stifled her first response of A LOT and went with "Daily." The doctor cocked an eyebrow to ask how much and Jaci looked down as she answered, "It was pretty substantial, for sure over the recommended daily allowance." _And now I might be challenging my sister Wendy for title of Most Fucked up Parker Pregnancy._

_**XXX**_

Having cleaned up after her last customer, Vix was helping herself to a cold bottle of water and quick breather out on the back patio of Twisted Scissors. She smiled to herself as she watched the yet-to-be-re-named pup curled up at her feet snoozing. _Y__ou got the right idea, pupper. Mama is seriously exhausted._

She had no sooner finished the thought when the pup's head snapped up and emitted a small bark, he scrambled to his feet and went tearing off into the salon. Vix stood up and quickly followed him inside, just in time to watch him lose his footing on the slick tiling and go skidding down the hall into the main salon room with a loud yelp.

Half-concerned, half-amused by his antics she watched as the pup stopped sliding and got his footing back. The little guy stood growling at the visitor. In the back of her mind, Vix was thinking that odd- because he had shown no indifference to the influx of customers since his arrival. She had expected to see Half Sack but found instead Polly Zobelle standing at the front desk.

Vix eyed the woman with flat out distain and quickly snatched up her puppy, not wanting the little guy anywhere near the bitch. "We're closed."

"I saw the hours posted and I own a watch." Was the girl's reply. "I stopped by to deliver the check for the fender repair." She extended an envelope in Vix's direction.

Nodding towards the desk Vix instructed, "Put it on the desk." Vix glanced at the check laying on the counter. "You know I thought we agreed to cash but I am thinking I almost hope that sucker bounces... I'd gladly pay the $35 bank fee for the sheer pleasure I'd take in kickin' your ass."

Polly crossed her arms over her chest. "Cashier's check... sorry to thwart your little ass kicking dream but I'd be good for the money regardless. Oh, and speaking of, my guy said you're labor estimate is extremely inflated... he could do the work for less than half."

Vix smirked. "Yeah well, only certain guys get to touch what's mine."

From somewhere off to her left came the sound of heavy footsteps and a man's voice, "Yeah, you're taste in guys has been noticed."

Along with being startled by him, Vix was a bit shocked by and a lot pissed at her failure to notice AJ Weston standing off to the side and looking her over with obvious distain. In her arms, the pup snarled defensively and bared his set of little puppy teeth.

The door chimed Half Sack walk into the salon. He shot Vix a look of concern while eyeing Polly and Weston. Vix nodded. "They stopped by to pay for the Charger repairs." She nodded at the envelope on the counter. "We're gonna want to get that right over to Jax and Opie."

Half Sack nodded, "Sure thing."

They both turn and stared at the un-wanted/welcomed visitors. Vix rolls her eyes and said sarcastically, "Hint, hint."

Weston took a step and the pup growled loudly. Half Sack turned his startled attention to the pup in Vix's arms. He'd been so distracted by walking in and finding members of LOAN in Vix's salon that he'd failed to notice the dog. The black of its fur blended in with the black of Vix's Twisted t-shirt.

Weston walked past Vix and the pup and nodded to Polly then the pair walked out of the salon.

As soon as they clear the threshold, Vix nodded to Sack. "Lock that damn door. Hell's Bells... not may people give me the creeps but that dude freaks me the fuck out. And little fella here didn't get a good vibe either, did ya, pup?"

Half Sack nodded at the puppy. "New addition?"

Vix filled him in on the events that led her to becoming a _Puppy Mama_. "Ooh and guess where the fuck my car is? Out by the damn water tower."

"I know." Half Sack laughed. "I was gonna tell ya. Jax spotted it, thought maybe you broke down... I played along."

"Thanks."

"So you want to go take that check to TM?"

"Not really! I want to go get my car, get some stuff for little dude at Noah's and head home."

"You're not seriously gonna name him Little Dude are you?"

Vix shrugged. "Unser says he won't be little too long... thinks he is gonna be big like his daddy..." She eyed Kipp when she saw a funny look come across his face. "What?"

"I have the perfect name for him." Half Sack announced, immediately knowing the pup's heritage.

"What?"

"Spawn. Tig calls that pup's dad The Devil... so that makes him the devil's spawn."

Vix grinned."That is soooo awesome!" She turned the pup to face her and rubbed noses with him. "I shall love you and hug you and squeeze you and call you Spawn Parker."

In response to and in what Vix took as acceptance of his new name, the pup licked her face. She giggled and hugged him tightly.

_**XXX**_

The doctor sighed and made a few notes. "I'm going to have a quick EKG ran, just to see that everything is ok there. Will take just a minute."

He started for the door but Jaci reached out and grabbed his arm. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. The tests? The blood tests…the pregnancy test? I'm going to need those results like NOW. Otherwise, you're going to be seriously concerned with the way my heart is pounding during this little EKG."

"Oh! Sorry!" The doctor exclaimed and flipped through the chart again. "Blood levels were fine, nothing out of the ordinary there. And you are NOT pregnant." He smiled at her, noticing she looked more than a bit relieved to hear that news. He strolled out of the room to order the EKG.

Jaci put her hands over her face and slowly exhaled and inhaled a few times. "Holy shit that was close. Oh my God." She looked over at Tara, who offered a weak smile.

The EKG was no big deal and didn't reveal any surprising issues. The doctor returned and handed Jaci script for a blood pressure pill and an anti-anxiety medication.

"So…I have high blood pressure?" Jaci frowned. "Isn't that like for senior citizens or something? I'm not even 35." She pictured comparing meds with the Ruby and Henry and the rest of the Olds. _Geez._

"Given your father's issues, I'm inclined to say this is an act of heredity. No amount of exercise or healthy living could have completely prevented this from happening eventually."

"Great…thanks, Dad." Jaci muttered. _Even from the damn grave you're screwing me over._

"However, the high level of stress it sounds like you're under has certainly exacerbated the issue. I am strongly recommending you take the anti-anxiety medication. You need to eliminate stress as much as possible and make sure you cope with the rest of in a healthy way…NOT by drinking or smoking. Those habits need to cease immediately or you might find yourself in your father's shoes sooner than you think."

Jaci nodded along. The doctor filled her in about the side effects of the medications and told her she could expect to feel differently and for the better in a few weeks.

"Now, you'll need to purchase a blood pressure monitor and take readings twice a day. You'll want to write those down so we can track your progress."

"I'll start a spreadsheet." Jaci noted absently. The doctor looked at her with amusement. "I'm an accountant…tend to get a little nerdish on things, sorry." He wished her well and told her to stay in touch.

"So when do I sign up for Social Security?" Jaci asked weakly as she waved around her prescriptions. Since it was Sunday, no pharmacies in town were open. Tara offered to get the items filled and then they headed back to Parker Place.

_**XXX**_

"You don't have to do this shit, ya know. I can do it…just haven't wanted to." Clay commented as he watched Tig rip out the second of the third shrubs.

"Your hands don't need the vibration, man."

Clay looked sternly at Tig and snapped, "My hands are fine, asshole." Tig nodded in false agreement and went back to work. Clay picked up a discarded branch and poked at his boot with it. "So what's your problem today? You're in a mood."

"I'm fine." Tig replied with a bit of malice and fired up the chainsaw before Clay could ask another question. Clay rolled his eyes, his friend would work his way to the problem in his own sweet time.

A few minutes later, Tig killed the chainsaw and went to work on the roots of the shrub with a shovel. He tossed a glance over at Clay. "Went to the strip club last night."

Clay sighed, knowing exactly what that announcement meant.

"Damn that girl is into some hostile shit." Tig mused but with fake enthusiasm.

"Did it help?" Clay knew that Tig walked some weird lines, pushed boundaries sometimes that were better left alone but he knew his friend sometimes _needed _to it to keep some demons pushed down…shit with Donna…with Jaci…all that shit had to stay beaten into submission.

Tig shook his head as he stared at the ground. "No…not really. Nothing's working lately. Guess that's why I'm up so early today…didn't even bother getting drunk…what's the point?"

The true meaning of that admission hung in the air for a long moment. Clay gave Tig a sympathetic look then quipped, "Bummer."

"Yeah…hey, that stripper bitch put my cut on…you believe that shit?" Tig asked with a grimace and went back to the yard work. "I left her a goddamn dollar, she's lucky I didn't knock her the fuck out." He added with a cold laugh.

Serious, deep moments between guys didn't last very long.

**XXX**

Tara pulled into the drive at Parker Place. Tara nodded towards the car parked in the driveway. "Looks like you have company."

"That's Rachel's...she's actually moving in. Vix hired her to help with the salon."

"Oh…she seems nice. It's probably good for Vix to have a friend to lean on...you know, someone other than you."

Jaci nodded along as she stuffed the prescription bag into her purse. "Yeah, Rach is great. Her and Vix are alot alike." Jaci frowned. "I guess that means I need to get a friend of my own huh? So Tara...you wanna be my BFF?"

Tara couldn't help but laugh.

"Come on...we're already keeping secrets and stuff. You're my quasi sister in law anyway, right? We should have a sleep over...giggle and bitch about the men in our lives. We'll make string bracelets or something, eat ice cream till we puke."

"Yeah…we'll have to do that sometime." Tara replied sarcastically.

Jaci climbed out of the car but poked her head back inside. "Hey…thanks for hanging with me today. All this sucks but I really appreciate your help….AND your silence." She stared harder at Tara. "Remember…tell no one. Everybody's got their own problems…I don't need to add mine to any pile."

"No problem…you take care of yourself, J. I'll call and check on you tomorrow." Tara replied. _What's one more secret? Now I know about a rape victim and a ticking time bomb._

_**XXX**_

Vix was sitting on the floor of her bedroom assembling the newly purchased doggie crate. The pup, now dubbed Spawn, was laying across her lap. The two had gelled instantly and while she went about her task, her brain was trying to figure out how to present the pup in a positive light to her sister.

The pup suddenly perked up and jumped outta Vix's lap and went running down the hall towards the living room.

Jaci pushed through the door of the house and immediately heard a tiny bark. The next thing she knew a small puppy came running down towards her..

Vix comes running after yelling, "_Ssssppppaaaawwwnnnn_" and scooped up the pup.

Jaci could only blink and stare, "When did we get a dog and why?"

"Chief Unser gave him to me… cause I need a friend."

"You've got one, her name is Rachel and she followed you home three weeks ago." Jaci replied. She eyes her sister who appears to be completely enraptured with the puppy. Jaci groaned, "Vix.. you know how much work a dog is? Are you crazy? You don't have time for a dog."

"I need this Jaci." Vix countered and snuggled the pup close to her chest in a protective manner.. "I'm running real short on unconditional love these days."

Jaci rolled her eyes, "You're not UN-loved Vix, stop being over-dramatic."

"I AM by WHO I WANT to love me…"

"I just want you stop and think. A dog – especially a puppy, not yet housebroken, takes a lot of attention… and quite frankly a lot of money, vet bills, shots, food, toys, bed, crate, leash, collar, flea treatments, heart worm pills. And I see his ears are clipped so there is the maintenance on those." Jaci stopped listing the cons. She felt like one of those mothers at the pet store trying to talk her kid out of a dog and into a goldfish.

"I won't inconvenience anyone with him. He is mine and I'm not 17 years old any more, I am responsible damnit! He can spend time with me at Twisted and when I am at school Rach is there or I bought a doggie crate, was puttin' it together in my room just now." She saw her sister's hesitation and decided to play her trump card. "Oh, by the way…his daddy's the one bit Tig in the ass."

Jaci's jaw dropped open. "No shit." She grinned and patted the little fella on the head , "You're daddy's my hero."

Vix laughed, "That's what I said! And so I me and Half Sack decided to call him Spawn, cause apparently Tig refers to his daddy as _The Devil_... so ya get it.. Spawn .. _Spawn of the Devil._" Vix smiled.

"I get it." Jaci frowned. "So when did you start talkin' to Kipp again?"

"It's a long story."

Jaci shook her head. She had had too much drama today to have this conversation with her sister. She looked at the little pup. "Welcome to the family SPAWN PARKER."

"THANK YOU … THANK YOU!" Vix exclaimed with a huge grin then added more solemnly, "And um, about last night. I was in a real fucked up place, I know better and I'm sorry."

Jaci held up her hands. "You know what.. I feel like I've lived a thousand lifetimes since last night, so let's both agree to just take better care of ourselves and try not to be stupid."

"I make no promises… but I'll try." Vix laughed. "So Rach says you and Tara went out early this AM. I don't see any shopping bags accompanying you home...so begs the question what's with playin' BFF with Doctor Tara?"

Jaci tried to think of a convincing lie.

**To Be Continued… **

Be sure to check out our fic folder at TigNation, we've put up a few musical selections for this chapter.


	10. Chapter 9, Wreck Me

**Walk Away from the Son  
Parker Sister Saga continues – Season 2 of SoA  
Chapter 9- You Wreck Me (Our version of Eureka)  
By BG and Reaper**

Sorry it took so long to finish this chapter, we really thought it would go quicker. Funny how the things that seem the easiest to write, turn out to be the hardest. But there is LOTS of Tig in this chapter, so you guys should be happy. Good things come to those who wait...well sorta.  
And as always, there are some musical selections to check out over in our fic folder at Tignation!

_You wreck me baby, you break me in two  
But you move me honey, yes you do  
~Wreck Me, Tom Petty_

_**XXX**_

The guys took turns tossing insults at Bobby as he rolled his old bike onto the lot into line for the charity run.

"Hey, an old fat boy on an old fat boy!"

Jax laughed and pointed. "I thought you retired that beast."

"Hasn't even reached it's prime." Bobby attempted to defend his ride.

"Barely looks like it could reach the end of the lot." Opie quipped.

"Best bike for a long ride, I'd put it up against any of your pretty Dynas." Bobby revved the bike and it spit, sputtered and backfired. He switched it off just in time to hear his cell phone buzzing. He checked the caller ID and announced "Tacoma." He climbed off the bike and answered the call.

Kipp bemoaned, "Goddamn man, I gotta ride behind that?"

Chibs frowned. "You should be used to being sprayed in the face, Prospect"

_**XXX**_

"Hey Bobby E." Kozik spoke into the phone. "I know you n' the boys are gettin' set to head out on the Eureka run but got a quick question for ya first."

"Yeah, what's that?"

"Whose the bitch got your man Juice all bent outta shape? Dude in love with some sweetbutt or somethin'?"

"Noooo! Vix's far from that." Bobby quickly explained in the simplest terms possible exactly who Vix Parker was and how she and Jaci had re-migrated to Charming a while back. "Vix and Juice shot out the gate doin' about a buck-twenty... been wrapped up since then… til about a month ago, that is."

"Seriously?" Kozik groaned. So what am I supposed to do with him? They gonna get over their shit or what? He's seriously bummed the fuck out."

"THAT is the million dollar question." Bobby replied with a chuckle. "Juicey's got some serious shit to work thru and Vix needs time to heal. Because I am known to be _Pro-Parker_ and for his part in all of it, Chibs and I talked Clay into sendin' him your way. Knew you needed help with intel, but also as a favor to the kid. Shit's too raw right now for both of them. So, use him as you see fit... but make sure _What Happens in Tacoma Stays in Tacoma_ for everyone's sake."

Koz snorted as he glanced over his shoulder to where Juice was slumped in a chair in the corner of the Tacoma Clubhouse lookin' glum as hell. The kid was well on his way to polishing off the bottle of Cuervo in his hand. "So far only thing happenin' in Tacoma is a spike in tequila consumption and iTunes downloads of angsty songs."

Juice watched the Tacoma SAA carry on a phone conversation. He watched as Kozik glanced his way a few times during and figured he was the likely subject matter. Juice shrugged to himself and brought the bottle of tequila to his lips and drained it empty. He closed his eyes and got lost in the song playing through his ear buds: Cavo's_ Crash._

___Every mile gets you further away from the past  
Feels like you're shattered and covered in broken glass  
And I'll be here the next time that you crash  
Yeah, I'll be here the next time that you crash_

I'm right here in front of you  
Just ask and I'll hold your breath in my hands  
And I'll save you when you crash, when you crash

Every mile gets you further away from the past  
Feels like you're shattered and covered in broken glass  
Losing control, can't you see that you're running too fast?  
And I'll be here the next time  
I'll pick you up the next time you crash

_**XXX **_

After Kozik hung up with Bobby, he walked over to Juice – who killed the iPod and pulled the earbuds out. "So you got a picture of this chick, got ya so damn heartbroken?"

Juice looked at him like _well duh!_ He messed with his cell phone for a minute and then held it up to Koz.

"Oooh man.. that one looks like trouble."

"Yeah... in capital bold letters, underlined and highlighted with a few exclamation points tossed on at the end for emphasis." Juice replied with an actual laugh.

"Well she's damn cute... but if she's that much of a pain in the ass..."

Juice shrugged. "Ever met one that was well worth the effort?"

Koz thought for a minute and then shook his head. "Nope. But I guess it depends on what you consider worth the effort. I myself have EXTREMELY high standards and value my time and energy... so the girl'd have to be a _Unicorn._"

Juice laughed again. "Vix'd be like Rainbow Bright... literally. I mean when I met her she had pink hair."

"Jesus Christ." Koz laughed.

_**XXX **_

Back in Charming, Bobby turned back to the guys and tried to jump back into the conversation he had been half listening to. He looked at the Prospect, "You're getting a what? A musical?"

Kipp rolled his eyes, "A neutical!" He took his harassment from the guys in good stride, but so far no one but him thought it was a good idea. He had even asked Jaci her opinion a couple of days earlier and she flat told him that unless he was having the surgery for HIMSELF, it was a stupid risk and that any girl that was worth a damn wouldn't give a care about his present 'condition' below the belt.

Tig shoved at the kid as he finished up a cow miking gesture. "Besides, if you get another nut, what the hell are we gonna call you?"

The kid raised his eyebrows, "Um...Kipp?"

The guys were quiet for a half a second and then burst out laughing, "Naaaaaa!"

_**XXX**_

Twisted Scissors was alive with activity on that Saturday morning. Ruby and Milly both had appointments with Vix, Rachel was giving another patron a perm, and two other women had just arrived and headed upstairs to work on their tans. Jaci was looking over the salon's financial state via the salon's laptop while she parked her ass in one of the massaging pedicure chairs. Suddenly, the rumble of Harleys could be heard in the distance. The line of bikes that soon stretched down Charming's main street garnered attention from everyone within seeing distance and the women inside the beauty salon were no exception. They wandered out to the front sidewalk to watch the parade of bikers.

Reflexively, the Parkers both checked out the known riding locations of their respective exes in the line.

Tig, as normal, rode slightly behind Clay. When the SAMCRO SAA rolled past he willed himself NOT to look at the group gathered outside Twisted. Juice's space, in his apparent absence from the event, was filled by another.

After the bikes were gone and the car alarms had been quieted from the overwhelming vibrations, Rachel questions "Did that van read that they are taking part in the Blood Drive for a children's hospital?"

Vix bobbed her head up and down, "Mmm hmm, Sons of Anarchy doing their civic duty."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm all for serving the greater good, but exactly whose blood is being donated to the hospital?"

Jaci laughed, "Good damn question. Seriously the _No Tattoos in the last year_ rule ALONE, disqualifies at least 80 % of them." She kept the additional qualifiers of no diseases or illicit drug use to herself.

"It also raises money and awareness, that many bikes anywhere together at one time, always gets noticed." Vix mentioned.

,Jaci looked to Vix. "I don't think I saw Juice. Isn't he involved in this one?"

"I'm not exactly _in the know_ when it comes to his day to day_." _Vix shrugged and rolled her eyes.

Ruby held up a finger. "Jean-Carlos left for a bike trip two days ago. He failed to mention a destination but he did remark he'd be gone for a week or more."

Vix smirked at her sister "He's on a _bike trip." _ She replied using Ruby's terminology. "I guess that answers that now don't it?" She gave the ladies a small smile and headed inside.

The rest followed suit. Once inside, Ruby ventured to continue the conversation, "That actually made the perfect segway into what I needed to speak to you about. With Jean gone, we are in need of a caller for Bingo on Thursday and..." Vix bit her lip, Ruby noticed and cocked her head. "What is it dear?"

Vix shook her head. "I.. I'm thinking that I should probably decline. You know... it's not because I don't want to help out but it's probably, you know... best. Things aren't lookin' like they're gonna be improvin' between Juice and me and so ya know... he wins you." She eyed Ruby and Milly then clarified. "ALL of you."

"Didn't know we were door prizes." Milly stated with a laugh.

Vix sighed. "This isn't coming out right. I mean, I don't think he's gonna want me hanging out with… ..."

Ruby touched her arm. "The _j__oy_ of being Jean-Carlos' grandmother is not the end all… be all…of my existence, young lady. I and I alone, decide with whom I _hang out_ and well... quite frankly I've grown to adore your company. All of us have, even Henry Darling." 

Vix eyed Ruby, confused and conflicted. Milly smiled and offered, "Think of it as winning JOINT CUSTODY, honey."

"I'll tell Father Carlin to expect you on Thursday evening." Ruby said with a smile. "Now where is this little pup I've heard about? I've picked him up a few things."

Vix tossed a look at Jaci who shrugged and mouthed "_ROLL WITH IT."_

_**XXX**_

Later that evening, Jaci was putting the final touches on homemade bread and warm spinach artichoke dip when her cell phone came to life…_A little less conversation, a little more action, all this aggravation..._

She frowned and wondered why Bobby would be calling her while on a run. _Shit, hope nothing happened._ She put down her spatula and answered the phone cautiously, "Hello?"

Bobby tried to sound chipper on the other line. "Hey there, whatchya doin'?"

"Cooking for the little movie night we're having. What's wrong?"

"Wrong? Why does there have to be anything wrong for me to call you?"

"Cause you're in the middle of a run, Bobby. Not exactly prime time for social calls. Who's in jail?"

Bobby gave up the façade of a friendly call. "Nobody's in jail…but one's on his way to the hospital. Tig took a bit of a tumble."

Jaci stopped breathing and leaned against the counter. She finally sucked in air. "Is he…is he ok?"

"For the most part, but he's having a REAL shitty day. My bike went a little haywire and slammed into his and he went flipping off down a hill, ripped up his leg pretty good. Took him to the hospital near where it happened but they wouldn't see him cause of some insurance bullshit. Then we lost him for a bit."

"Lost him?"

Bobby looked around and lowered his voice, unsure if he should really spill the beans on the details of the day. But this was Jaci he was talking to, she'd understand the situation, keep her mouth shut. "Well…turns out some bitch ER admin called his name in with a bounty hunting service. He had skipped on something old out in Oregon. Anyway these guys rolled up and snatched him…we got him back though."

"Holy shit."

"Yeah, I know. But now Piney's got him and they're headed back to St. Thomas. Actually been on the road for a few hours now."

Jaci frowned in confusion, not sure why Bobby was calling HER. She wasn't with Tig anymore, he wasn't her problem. She picked up the spatula and fiddle with it as she talked. "Ooook. So do you want me to tell Gemma or something?"

Bobby cleared his throat. "Um…I sorta want you to go to the hospital."

"Me?" Jaci lost her grip on the kitchen gadget and it clambered into the metal sink, making a ruckus. "Bobby, sorry to say it but I sorta HATE Tig. I don't think…"

"Well so do I sometimes...but I love the crazy bastard too and so do you."

"No I don't Bobby. Not anymore."

"Yes you do. If you guys didn't give a shit about each other on some damn level you wouldn't fight so much." Bobby was pacing around in the parking of the gas station while making his case to her. After arguing back and forth for a few minutes, he threw up a hand and finally said, "Ok, fine. You hate him, whatever. Could you just go make sure he gets stitched up? There's already been one insurance screw up today and I don't trust Piney to prevent another one and Clay will have my ass if something else goes wrong. Come on...need a favor here."

Jaci rubbed at her forehead. "Are you pulling the club favor card? Seriously? That is so not cool!"

"Noooo...I'm pulling the Bobby and Jaci buddy card but if you don't say yes, I'll throw down the club one. Now come on and help me out!" Bobby hissed. Chibs stood a few feet away laughing at him, he knew the call to Jaci would NOT go well.

"Grrrrr!" Jaci grunted and wanted to throw the phone across the room. "Ok ok. I'll go check on the jerk."

A smile spread across Bobby's face and he gave a thumbs up sign to Chibs who clapped silently at him. "You're the best, J. And could you make sure he gets home ok? Piney probably needs to get back to the grandkids and stuff."

"What? Bobby, no! I am NOT..."

Bobby acted like he was being pulled away from the phone. "What's that? Hey, I gotta go, J. Thanks!" He hung his cell with a huge grin on his face. He smirked at Chibs, "Told ya she'd go."

"You had to _guilt_ her into it…doesn't count. Not payin' you the twenty bucks." Chibs replied with his arms crossed.

_**XXX**_

Tara opened the front door cautiously to find Vix standing on the front porch. "Hey, aren't you a little early for the Movie Mandate?"

"Yeah.. and don't kid yourself that this shit ain't on purpose. Gemma here yet?" Vix asked as she lit up a cigarette on the front stoop.

"Um, she is on her way… why?"

Vix eyed the doctor. "I think there's something wrong with her. I mean REALLY WRONG. That car accident fucked her up."

Tara immediately went on the defensive, "What are you talking about?"

"One of my clients at Twisted today… claimed Gemma pulled a gun on her while she was trying to find a parking space. Never mind the fact that the chick didn't know about our private spaces. Believe me she does now."

"Vix!" Tara interrupted the ramble. "Gemma pulled a gun on someone?"

"_Allegedly_… but chica had a great description right down the those new highlights I added to Gemma's hair… and the description of the Escalade she's been driving." Vix blew out a stream of smoke. "Do you think she has post traumatic stress or somethin'?"

"Anything's possible." Tara played dumb. "I'll talk to her… _try_ anyway."

Vix nodded, "Good."

They both turned at the sound of a vehicle pulling to the driveway as Gemma arrived. She climbed out of the SUV slowly and hollered over to Vix, "You're early, good… I broke a nail." She held up her finger and gave the girls a visual.

Vix smirked. "Is that your gun hand?"

While Gemma eyed Vix strangely, Tara smiled and whispered. "Very nice, Vix… subtle."

A Green Day song erupted from Vix's phone and broke up the moment.

_Better homes and safety-sealed communities  
Did you remember to pay the utility?  
Caution, police line, you better not cross  
Is the cop or am i the one that's really dangerous?  
Sanitation, expiration date, pushing everything  
Or shut up and be a victim of authority_

Gemma eyed the youngest Parker sister, "You gonna get that?"

Vix nodded. "I like to soak up the irony every time she calls me." Vix sang along to the next line _Warning, live without warning _. She smile and chirped into the phone, "Hola, chica que pasa?" She walked to the far end of the driveway to lend some privacy to the conversation.

Jaci groaned into her end of the line. "I'm gonna be missing Movie Night."

"Bullshit you are! Do I need to remind you that this was your and your new BFF's brainy idea to begin with… _mend fences.. build bridges.. find common ground. _Blah blah blah blah friggin' blah!"

"The boys had some trouble on the run." Jaci blurted purposefully to silence her sister.

"Holy shit! Is everyone ok, well obviously not… who got arrested?" Vix glanced over her shoulder and at seeing Gemma watching her, she managed to flash the older woman a small smile and turned back around and faced the street.."What happened?"

Jaci quickly explained what she knew and what was being _requested_ of her.

"That's total horse shit, J… Bobby had no right."

"He had every right, Vix."

"No he didn't, Tig is an asshole."

"Be that as it may… a SON is a SON, God forbid it had been someone else."

"They woulda called someone else. He only pulled this shit because it's Tigger and no one else wants to deal with him."

"Regardless, it's done. I told him I would and unfortunately a Parker's word is bond."

"Yeah. I know… it ain't fair."

"Life ain;t meant to be, right? Kisses to Abel from me and beg forgiveness from the Queen. Oh and Rach says she has a few more trips to make moving her stuff in so she will be in and out. I asked her to grab the appetizers, such as they are- I was in the middle of it when Bobby called, and bring 'em with her when she comes over… so don't worry."

"Like I'm worried about food, I'm more worried 'bout you. Don't you take no shit from him. You tranq him up and prop his ass in a corner somewhere, dude don't deserve your tending."

"Yeah.. yeah. I gotta get over to St Thomas, I'll hit ya back later."

"You better."

Vix hung up completely frustrated for her sister. She turned around only to find both Tara and Gemma watching her from the front steps. She sighed and announced, "There's gonna be one less for dinner. Goddamn Tig had a wreck and Piney is bringing him back to St Thomas... some insurance red tape bullshit. Bobby saddled Jaci with babysitting duty."

"Is he ok?" Gemma asked full of concern.

"Yeah, well I guess. Gashed open his leg, needs stitches or something. But all respect to those who deserve it.. askin' J to do this is TOTAL BULLSHIT! Everybody knows Tigger is a complete fuckhead to her on a GOOD DAY… so you can just imagine how lovely he will be TODAY."

Tara grimaced thinking to herself _S__hit! Jaci doesn't need any added stress… those blood pressure pills have just begun to work. _

Gemma waved Vix down, "You're right… call your sister, tell her to stay put.. I'll head to St Thomas, deal with Tig."

_Oh hell, __Gemma is really in no emotional shape to deal with this. _Tara thought. _Christ, if Vix's gun news rang any truth … someone would end up getting shot. _ "No no no, Gemma. You both just stay here, watch Abel and set stuff up for later. Tell Jaci to get her rear in gear and head on over, I'll go make sure everything is ok with Tig, I know most of the folks in the ER maybe I can get him pushed through fairly quickly."

Both women looked at Tara with amusement, Vix actually laughed out loud. "Tigger will rip you a new one, Doc. No offense but it'd be like an Olympic sport to him." Vix sighed "I'll go.. at least be moral support for my sister."

"Um, but your friend Rachel is coming over. She isn't going to want to hang out with just Gemma and I." Tara reminded.

Gemma held up her hands "You know what… Jaci agreed to go, maybe she and Bobby know something we don't. Let's just let her handle it."

"Oh Come on, Gemma! You know my sister don't know HOW to say NO! Helpin' people it's like her life's blood… a person in need is her kryptonite. Her saying she WOULD doesn't mean she WANTS TO."

_**XXX**_

Jaci navigated through the main waiting room of the St. Thomas emergency room. There were several parents consoling sick kids, a teenager holding an icepack to his head while his mom griped at him and a few adults that seemed to have flu like symptoms. No sign of Tig or Piney. She walked up to the nurse's station that served as a sign in desk.

Thankfully she recognized the nurse and didn't feel like a complete idiot asking if Tig had checked in yet. The nurse raised an eyebrow and smiled at her inquiry but Jaci played it off that she drew the short straw for checking on the jackass. The nurse handed her a clipboard, a pen and some paperwork, stating that Tig had essentially thrown his wallet at her and told her to do it herself. Jaci apologized for Tig's rude behavior and completed the paperwork quickly. The nurse waved her through some double doors and said that he was in one of the curtain partitioned cubicles in the back.

She stood at the front of the room for a moment until she heard Piney's voice. She hadn't wanted to just randomly poke her head into the rooms until she stumbled onto the correct one. She headed down the left side of the room and took a deep breath before leaning her head into the third cubicle. She winced as she took in the scene. Tig was lying on the gurney, one arm behind his head. His bloody bandaged left leg was propped up by a pillow under his knee. Piney was seated in a chair and had his oxygen tank resting on the bed with Tig. They were talking about a bike and how it needed to be ripped apart and melted. Finally she said, "Hey guys."

Tig's head jerked from Piney to the doorway and spotted her first. He frowned. "Who called you?"

Piney turned to follow his gaze and responded with a friendly, if surprised, "Well, hey there, Jaci."

"Well, hello to you too." She smiled and ignored Tig's annoyed tone. "Who do you think called me?"

"Fuckin'Bobby." Tig growled and looked at the floor. _Thanks a lot, asshole._ _Fucking wreck my bike, cause me to get picked up by fucking bounty hunters and then you send my goddamn ex_ _to see me while I'm a goddamn invalid. I'm going to fucking beat your ass the next time I see you._

"Um, Bobby was worried about you guys...thought there might need to be some estrogen involved." Jaci tried not to look too upset as she got a good look at Tig's battered face. _Damn, are all the bruises and cut from the wreck or the bounty hunters?_

Piney laughed. "That's for sure! I'm not giving him a sponge bath."

"Neither am I!" Jaci snorted.

Tig looked at her and grumbled, "Then what good are ya?"

She just rolled her eyes at his crankiness. "Well, I'm fantastic at filling out admittance paper work." She pulled his wallet out of the front pocket of her slim black Columbia fleece jacket and tossed it into his lap. "So were you trying to earn your Evil Knievel patch or what?"

"Bobby didn't tell you the story?" Piney asked.

She shrugged and lowered her voice. "Well, I'm sure I got the short version. Told me his bike messed up and caused Tig's tumble and then some drama about bounty hunters?"

Tig glared at her with a smirk. "He tell ya the charge I skipped out on?"

Jaci shook her head.

"Assault and indecent exposure in a livestock trailer." Tig sneered and said proudly.

Jaci eyes widened slightly when she heard the charge. _Livestock trailer? What the fuck?_ She saw that his expression was oozing cockiness and realized that he was trying to bait her and gross her out. So she just replied, "Well, who's the goat fucker now? I hope it was worth all the hassle."

Piney threw his head back with laughter. Tig glared at her.

The moment was cut short by a nurse walking past; she made the mistake of making eye contact with Tig. "Hey goddammit, come here!" The nurse was very young. "When are you people going to fucking stitch me up? We've been here a damn hour!" Tig yelled.

"Tig." Jaci chided him with a look that said _cool it_ but the warning was useless.

The nurse looked shaken; Tig certainly was an imposing force. She tried to explain the reason for his wait. "Well…sir…there are several children that need to be seen first. They're quite sick and since you are stable…"

Tig cut her off. "Fuck snotty nosed kids and fuck stable!" He pointed to his bloody mess of a leg. "My goddamn leg is going to get infected and ROT OFF while I keep waiting in hospitals for someone to fucking DO something!"

"I'm sorry sir; there is nothing I can do. You'll just have to wait your turn." The young nurse said as she walked away quickly.

Jaci shot Tig a disappointed look and muttered _asshole_ as she turned on her heel to go after the nurse.

"Where the fuck are you going?" Tig yelled after Jaci as he slammed his head back against the bed.

"To apologize for you, dickhead. And hopefully score you some drugs." She called back over her shoulder.

_**XXX**_

"Excuse me!" Jaci called as she caught up to the young nurse down the hall. The nurse turned around and automatically looked defensive and a bit scared when she saw Jaci standing behind her. Jaci put her hands out apologetically and smiled. "I am SO sorry about him jumping you like that. He can be a total dick sometimes."

The nurse returned her smile. "Tell me about it."

Jaci continued her apology. "Even on a good day, he's an asshole and this has been a VERY bad day for him. He got hurt HOURS ago but got kicked out of a hospital due to an insurance snafu and had to be driven all the way back home to here. He's in a lot of pain and I am sure his macho pride is pretty banged up too."

The nurse was listening so Jaci kept spinning her story. "I understand he's going to have to wait a bit and if you want peace and quiet from him, I suggest you do us ALL a favor and give him a shot of the good shit. Take the edge off his pain and he'll calm down." Jaci grimaced and smiled at the nurse. "Look, I got suckered into taking care of him for the rest of the night, so I am begging you here…help me out?"

The nurse thought for a second and then replied. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you!" Jaci gushed.

_**XXX**_

Piney stood up and walked to the edge of the curtain so he could watch the conversation between Jaci and the nurse. "Looks like she's smoothing things over; the nurse is smiling."

Tig snorted and rolled his eyes. The buzz from the all the liquor he drank on the drive back with Piney had faded and left him with a huge headache. His leg was throbbing like a bastard. Cranky didn't even begin to cover his mood. "Fuckin' Bobby… I don't need a damn babysitter. And I definitely don't need HER around. "

"Why the hell did you break up with that woman?" Piney asked as he walked back over to the bed.

Tig lied. "Cause she's a bitch! Obviously! Here I am all… fucking _injured_ and she calls ME a dickhead?"

"Beautiful woman… drops whatever she was doing on a Saturday night to come to the ER to make sure her ex _whatever_, who IS a giant dickhead, is alright? She takes care of your insurance problems and is trying to score drugs to take your pain away? If that's a bitch…I'll take two of them."

Tig shook his head and thought for a moment. He stared at the doorway of the cubicle for a few moments and said seriously and quietly, "She fucks with my head, Piney."

Piney noticed Tig's thoughtful tone and stared at the man he knew had killed his daughter in law. "Son, your head needs to be fucked with. Maybe she could tighten a few of those loose screws you have." He replied with a grave expression on his face. Tig stared at him but then dropped his eyes away and shrugged.

_**XXX  
**_  
"Ok, good news." Jaci announced as she walked back into the curtained cubicle. "I sucked up to the nurse and she's bringing you a pain shot."

"'Bout fucking time." Tig grumbled.

Jaci winked at him. "You're welcome, asshole." She put on a happier face as she looked at Piney. "If you need to go on, mess with the grandkids or something, I can take Mr. Crankypants home."

"You don't mind?" Piney raised his eyebrows. "Think you can handle him without choking him to death." Jaci nodded. He looked at Tig. "You ok with this?"

Tig stared straight ahead, watching for the nurse to return with some relief. "Whatever."

"Well ok, then. You two play nice. I'll see ya tomorrow, gimp." Piney announced as he stood up, clapped Tig on the shoulder and made his way out to the hall. "Good luck. Don't take too much shit from him." He whispered to Jaci as he left.

Jaci sat down on the chair vacated by Piney. She unzipped her jacket, revealing a tight green long sleeve shirt, the bottom of her white tank top poking out the bottom. She got comfortable and crossed her arms.

"Are you TRYING to piss me off? Fuckin'goddamn green shirt."

Jaci looked down, she was in such a hurry to get to the hospital after Bobby called that she didn't think to change. She shrugged and replied sarcastically, "Yeah, Tig, I am. I picked this out JUST to mess with you."

They spent the next few minutes in silence. He laid on the gurney and snuck glances at her every now and then. He hated to admit it but she looked fucking hot in green, it made her eyes stand out like crazy.

She caught him staring and glared at him, "What?'

"Nothing." Tig spat back hatefully. He adverted his eyes and appeared to be starting the silent treatment. She sighed and rolled her eyes. She had a feeling tonight was going to be full of eye rolling moments. The nurse made good on the pain shot agreement and finally showed up. Tig took the shot in the hip and was surprisingly silent during the ordeal. He closed his eyes and relaxed while the pain meds started to run through his body.

Jaci let her eyes wander over him while he rested. She couldn't get over how different he looked…like a completely different person than the one she had fallen in love with all those months ago. His hair was too long and unruly and the pornstache wasn't doing him any favors either. His face was weathered and after today's tumbles, bruised and cut. Couple all of those physical changes with the shitty attitude Tig showed her most of the time these days and she began to question her sanity on ever liking him at all.

The on call doctor showed up a short time later. He took one look at Jaci and asked her to wait outside. He began to unwrap Tig's knee as she stood up to leave.

Tig opened his eyes and pointed to Jaci, "Hold up." He turned his attention to the doctor. "Why you making her leave?"

"I don't want to be responsible if she passes out at the sight of blood or needles." The doctor replied in a huff. "I don't have time to treat a concussion if she hits the floor."

"Won't happening, she's not a candy ass, she stays." Tig laid back down and shut his eyes again.

Jaci half smiled at the doctor and shrugged as she sat back down; odd time for Tig to stick up for her. The doctor cleaned the wound and Jaci watched with interest as he stitched up the cut. Thankfully the long gash was actually above his knee so Tig whould be back riding his bike in no time, well that is if his bike was still intact. Jaci wasn't about to even ask that question right now.

The doctor finished up the stitching, rewrapped Tig's leg and returned later with an antibiotic and painkillers. He tried to set Tig up with crutches but Tig would have no part of it. He eased down from the gurney, wincing with pain when he put weight on his left leg. He tried to hobble toward the door.

"We'll take the crutches." Jaci whispered to the doctor. He handed them over and then moved on to the next patient. Jaci walked behind as Tig slowly limped toward the double doors, having to hold his weight with his hand against the wall. She tried not to laugh at how he looked with his one pant leg cut off above his knee, like a biker gangsta trying to make a fashion statement. Finally she said, "Would you stop trying to be Superman and just use these crutches?"

"Fuck that. I'm fine."

"Yeah, I can see that." Jaci stepped in front of him and shoved the crutches at him. "Look, you want to ride your bike anytime soon? You can't do that until you can put weight on your leg. But it's not going to heal if you keep fucking around with it. Wanna pop your stitches and wait a few more hours to fixed back up?"

Tig glared at her and a stare down ensued between them. He finally snatched the crutches from her hands. "Fuck you and your goddamn voice of reason."

"Lead the way, gimp." Jaci smiled and waved her arm out in front of them. He tossed her a dirty look and set to trying to get situated with the crutches. He had taken his cut off earlier in the night and started to put it back on as he balanced on one leg. Jaci watched as Tig changed his mind and decided to hang his cut from the middle rung of his right crutch. He made it about wobbly four steps before his cut started to slide. She reached out instinctively and grabbed it.

Tig whirled around when he felt the cut slipping and then froze. They stood staring at each other, Tig trying to stay upright on the crutches and Jaci standing with his cut folded securely over her arm.

"The fuck're you doin?" He asked quietly.

"Didn't want it to hit the ground."

He stared at her for another moment and then snatched his cut from her arms. The stunt with the stripper had made him a little oversensitive about his cut and he spoke before he bothered to think. "Brothers and old ladies…THEY hold cuts. No one else, you fuckin' know that."

The dig about old ladies had hit her like a punch to the face. She wasn't trying to be his old lady but she was rushing around to make sure he was ok and got no respect for it and that fucking hurt. She recovered quickly, "So I'm a nobody? That's good to know." She started to walk away. "I'll be in the car. Have fun making there on your own." She added, "Fucking asshole" under her breath.

He watched her stalk down the hall, leaving him all alone. "Well motherfuck." He muttered as he shook his head and leaned against the hall. He re situated his cut and set to hobbling down the hall on his crutches. Finally he made it to the exit doors, silently relieved that they were auto sliding doors. He hobbled through them and looked around the parking lot. He was just starting to wonder if she had left his ass when five minutes later Jaci's Mustang pulled to a stop in front of him. He smirked. _I cut her down and she can't even make me walk across the parking lot. Mmph._

Jaci ignored Tig as he walked over to her car. He stood outside the door for a moment and then turned slightly on his crutches so he could slap the passenger window with his hand. She rolled down the window and looked over innocently at him, "Oh do you NEED something?"

"Open the fuckin' door, smartass." Tig snapped. When Jaci didn't make a move he leaned inside the window. "I'll fuckin' leave these crutches on the goddamn pavement, I don't give a fuck. Won't fuckin' fit inside this cage anyway."

"We'll see about that." Jaci mused and got out of the car, walking around to the passenger side. Tig hobbled aside and shoved the crutches at her. She glanced at him before starting to load the car, "How many times are you going to say FUCK tonight?"

"As many as I fuckin' want." He quipped. "You get your leg ripped open and your ass beat by bounty hunters and see how fuckin' chipper you are." He glanced over and saw that she was bent over inside the passenger seat, angling the crutches from the front seat partially into the back. He stared at her ass and cocked an eyebrow. She backed out of the seat a moment later and he quickly turned his gaze back to the parking lot.

"All set. Get in." Jaci ordered. Tig limped past her and started to maneuver oh so NOT gracefully into the low riding car. He was holding his cut in his right hand and for a split second almost shoved it in Jaci's direction so he could grip the door easier. She saw the move and recoiled with a frown. They shared an uneasy look and Tig finally plopped into the seat. Jaci slammed the door shut without a word or double checking that he was all set and ready.

_**XXX**_

After a brief argument, it was decided Tig would spend the night at Jaci's place. She didn't _want _him there but she had food in her house, her bed was better than his, and bounty hunters didn't have her address; it was really a no-brainer. They made a quick stop off at his place so Jaci could run in and grab a change of clothes and stuff for him. It unnerved him to have her going through his stuff but being the damn gimp he currently was it was the quicker option. And if he was honest, trying to walk on his bum leg was a bit tricker than he had expected, he probably would have fallen on his face straight out of the car anyway.

Jaci unlocked the door to Tig's house and stepped inside, flipping on the kitchen light. The house was a complete mess and smelled musty. Beer cans, pizza boxes and dirty dishes took up all available space in the kitchen. The rest of the house wasn't much better. Jaci actually tripped on pile of dirty laundry as she started down the hall way. _Yep…the night I spent here was a total fuckin' fluke._

She stopped in the bathroom first to grab the overnight essentials like deodorant and a toothbrush and frowned at the busted mirror that hung over the sink. _Mmph, someone doesn't like their ugly mug, aww so sad._ Jaci carried the items on up the hall to the bedroom and threw them down on the unmade bed. She glanced around and found being in the room a bit harder than she had expected. She sat down on the bed and stared down at the floor as her mind began to take a trip down memory lane. The night she had spent with Tig all those months ago had started off rocky but had ended really well, hell she had even hinted at being in love with him. She shook the thought off. _Who gives a shit…look at us now._

She stared at the floor for a moment longer and then frowned. She kicked at a stain on the floor with her shoe and then leaned over to get a closer look. _Is that blood? Jesus Christ, what the fuck has he been up to? _She bolted from the bed and rummaged through the floor of his closet and found the duffel bag that he had said was there. _Just get this shit over with already._ She threw the toiletries inside and grabbed a t-shirt and boxers as well along with a few more items. She zipped up the bag and headed back outside.

Jaci slid into the driver seat and tossed the duffel bag into the back seat. She fired up the car and dropped it into reverse. "Do I even want to know why there is a blood stain on your floor?"

Tig frowned for a second before he realized what she was talking about…the stain was from the night he had killed Donna, crashed his head into the bathroom mirror and let the cut bleed out while getting drunk. He had never gotten around to cleaning it, now the carpet was probably a lost cause. He answered lamely, "Cut myself shaving."

"Sorta looks like someone got their head put through a mirror." Jaci stated with an eyebrow cocked. Tig just looked straight ahead and ignored her. She gave up on the chit chat and hit play on her iPod. The next Drive By Truckers song sprang to life. _Goddamn Lonely Love _was the title and she wanted to change it immediately. It was a sad song and somehow the mood of it hit too close to home with her and Tig. She ventured a glance at Tig and he was staring at the radio with a contemplative look on his face so she let it be. If it hurt him, all the better.

_I got green and I got blues  
and everyday there's a little less difference between the two.  
So I belly-up and disappear.  
Well I ain't really drowning 'cause I see the beach from here._

_...So I'll take two of what you're having and I'll take all of what you got  
to kill this goddamn lonely, goddamn lonely love_

_**XXX**_

The ride home was silent and uneventful. Tig managed to stumble to the living room when they made it to her house. He threw his crutches on the floor and sprawled out on the sectional sofa.

"Geez, Tig…watch the tile." She warned as she heard the crutches hit the floor. "And get your boots off my couch."

"What?" Tig asked as he got comfortable: left leg on the couch, right leg grazing the floor, arms splayed above his head. He looked totally wiped out.

Rachel chose that moment to come walking out of her room with a crushed up box in her hand. "Hey is recycling day Monday or …?" She froze when she saw Tig on the couch.

Tig lifted his head to get a better look at the new girl and laughed. "So ya moved the dyke in? Yeah Gemma spilled the beans about the carpet muncher." He watched Jaci frown at his blunt choice of words. "Shouldn't you be flyin' rainbow colors out on the flag pole?" He pointed in the direction of the front yard where the American Flag proudly waves.

Jaci immediately hushed him and set to apologizing to Rachel. "It's probably the pain meds."

"Oh…um…are you ok?" Rachel asked Tig as he propped himself up on his elbows and leered at her.

"'Wrecked my bike...coulda died." Tig put on a fake pout. "Got 27 stitches in my leg." Rachel winced which made Tig smiled and he moved to start unbuckling his pants. "Wanna see em?' How bout a sympathy fuck?"

"Tig, keep your pants on!" Jaci interjected. "Jesus." She walked over to Rachel, "I'm sorry…he's….well he's just Tig. He takes a bit to get used to. You might just want to barricade yourself in your room for tonight."

"Um, I'm actually heading to the movie night thing at Tara's." Rachel answered as she gave Tig a disgusted look. She started to walk toward the front door and Jaci tagged along after grabbing the appetizer she had made earlier. "And Vix is wondering since you are NOW stayin' home could you watch SPAWN... so she don't gotta run back and forth to check on the little dude?"

Jaci nodded."Sure, no problem."

"Cool, I had him out a while ago.. he's sleepin' in his crate in Vix's room right now but when he wakes up he's gonna want out again."

"I've had a few dogs before, I know how it goes."

Rachel smiled. "Yeah sorry. Vix did damn near everything but leave a babysitter's check list before she left. Something tells me Spawn Parker is gonna be a tad spoiled."

"Ya think?" Jaci retorted with a laugh and closed the front door behind Rachel and blew out a breath before heading back to the living room.

"She leave?" Tig asked as he stared at the ceiling. "That's too bad, I think I could fuck the lesbo out of her." Jaci glared at him and muttered something about not dignifying his comment with an answer. Tig looked up at her with one eye closed. "Hey, I'm starvin'. You said you had food, let's fuckin' see it."

"Pot roast ok?"

He laughed while staring at the ceiling again. "Pot roast? When did you turn 65? Fuckin pot roast…like being at my grandma's house."

"Keep talking shit and you can starve."

"Don't be so fuckin' sensitive…was playing with you." Tig shot back. Jaci didn't reply and strolled to the kitchen. She returned a few minutes later and sat a hot plate of food on the ottoman by the sofa. Tig opened an eye and then rolled into a sitting position, grabbed the plate and started woofing down the meal. Jaci was halfway surprised that he didn't demand to be spoon fed. She sat down on the other side of the sectional and mused over how men could be such whiny little bitches when sick or injured.

With a mouthful of food, Tig asked, "So is this what you do on Saturday nights now? Watch TV and cook pot roast? Real fucking exciting."

She frowned at him and played with the TV remote. _Mmmm, talking with your mouth full…so sexy. Jackass._ "No, I actually had plans with the girls tonight. But for some retarded reason, I thought it was important to check on you."

"Bet your second guessing that decision now." He shoveled one last bite into his mouth.

"You have no idea." Jaci stared straight ahead at the TV.

He slapped the empty plate back down on the ottoman and leaned back against the sofa with a contented sigh.

"Good?"

He shrugged. "It was alright." Dinner had actually been fucking great but there was no way he was telling her that.

A small bark came suddenly from Vix's bedroom. "Shit, I forgot." Jaci muttered and headed out of the room.

Tig frowned and glanced down the hall. "Was that a dog? You got a fuckin' dog?"

_**XXX**_

Vix glanced over at Rachel when she arrived at Tara's. "How was my sister when you left?"

"She smiled sweetly but if you listened really hard you could probably hear her silently humming _It's a hard knock life_."

Gemma looked amused by that comment. Rachel eyed her. "Oh and um, apparently you were right... I'm pretty sure Tig thinks a good dose of _cock_ will CURE me of my sexual orientation."

That declaration got an honest to goodness laugh out of the SAMCRO Queen. Tara just sat there looking dumbfounded.

Vix shook her head. "Motherfuckin' Tig... asshole." She glanced at her friend. "I'm sorry you had to be subjected to ... wait... is he like staying ALL NIGHT at our place?"

Rachel nodded. "I think i saw an overnight bag... sorry."

"Well guess what? THIS little soiree just turned into a motherfuckin' slumber party... cause I ain't goin' home and dealin' him, man." Vix announced.

Tara stared at Vix. "I ... I.. I really didn't plan on overnight guests."

Vix rolled her eyes. "Planned or not... part of THIS lifestyle is an open invite. Su casa es um, El Club's casa."

"Spanish lessons with Juice really paid off, hmmm?" Gemma snickered.

"Not so much... I can swear pretty good and talk dirty but regular stuff still eludes me. He wasn't the greatest teacher... um, easily distracted. Didn't make a very good study partner either."

Gemma just shook her head and laughed silently, thinking it was at least an improvement that Vix didn't cuss and walk out of the room at the mention of SAMCRO's resident retard.

"Ooh, Tara speaking of... since my sister is otherwise busy. Can you Beta-Phish this for me?" Vix dug into a tote bag next to her chair and came up with a report folder. She slid it across the coffee table.

"Excuse me?"

"Beta it? Ya know like proof read it? Make sure it sounds good and looks nice. J says I excessively use dot dot dot and tend to jump from one tense to another. So just make little scribbles with these highlighters on stuff I need to fix up, hmm?" She tossed a pack of multicolored pens towards the doctor. "THANKS, Chica." Vix turned her focus back on the TV where Dirty Dancing was playing. "God, I can't believe he is dead... FUCKIN' cancer, man..."

_**XXX**_

Jaci walked back in the room with Spawn following happily behind her. The pair walked past the sofa and everything was fine until Spawn finally noticed Tig lying there. Spawn jumped with surprise and launched into a barking fit. Tig trumped the pup's barking with a few huge mocking barks of his own then started yelling for the pup to shut the fuck up which made Jaci yell at Tig and neither argument was making Spawn feel any better about the irritable stranger in his house. Jaci finally picked the pup up and he calmed down but growled slightly and gave Tig the evil eye.

"Does he look familiar?" Jaci asked with a smirk. "Unser gave him to Vix. I think you've met his Daddy."

"Motherfucker." Tig breathed. He glared at the dog in his ex's arms. "Keep that little fucker away from me or I'll snap his damn neck." Tig ran his hands over his face and held them there for a moment, wincing when his fingers hit the scrapes that peppered his cheek. "Shower time." He announced and eased himself up and started toward the bathroom.

Jaci jumped up from the sofa. "Whoa! You can't just shower with your leg like that. We have to wrap it up. Sit!" She walked toward him then realized she had the pup in her arms. She backtracked and put Spawn on the couch. "Sit." She ordered the dog and gave him a stern look, then looked at Tig. "You too."

He muttered _goddammit_ but complied as she headed for the kitchen. He frowned as he heard her rummaging around. She marched back into the living room with a roll of Saran wrap and some duct tape a moment later.

"No way. No duct tape. I've already been taped up once today." He protested.

Jaci cocked her and pouted. "Aww, I thought you loved this stuff." She tore off a long sheet of saran wrap and set to wrapping his leg. When the bandage was thoroughly covered, she started to tape the top and bottom with duct tape. She accidentally pressed slightly on his wound and he jerked with pain.

He yelled and grabbed her hand. "Ahhh! Stupid fuckin' b…"

"Do NOT finish that sentence, Tig." Jaci cut him off with a hard look as she yanked her hand from his. "I'm fucking serious. There is a limit to the amount of bullshit I am going to take from you."

"Oh really. What's the limit then?" He gritted his teeth.

"Keep pushing…you're almost there." Jaci answered. He looked up at the ceiling and allowed her to finish with his leg. "There, essentially waterproof. Don't slip and break your neck in the shower."

"You sound so sincere." Tig pushed himself up to a standing position and began to hobble down the hall towards the master bedroom bath.

_**XXX**_

Jaci sat down on the couch and leaned her head back. Spawn stood on her lap, staring up at her as if to say, _Dude...why did all my peeps leave? And who's THAT asshole?_ Jaci sighed, "Club favor, pup. You don't how know how powerful those two little words are. Little lucky bastard, they won't ever be asking YOU for favors. But don't worry, it's just for the night...then your precious MAMA will come home again."

She heard the shower turn on in the bathroom….HER bathroom, not the main bathroom in the hallway. Asshole had just marched…well, hobbled into her room and went straight for her shower.

Her hope of getting a few minutes of peace was shattered quickly when she heard Tig yell.

"HEY! Come here!"

She glanced in the direction of the hall but stayed seated. _What does he want now? Maybe I'll pretend that I didn't hear him._ A minute passed and then he banged on the wall and yelled again, "JACI! Get the fuck in here!"

She jogged to the bathroom and opened the door, "What's wrong?"

Tig poked his head out from behind the shower curtain. He thrust out a bottle of body wash and grimaced, "What's this shit? No fucking way I'm going to smell like goddamn…" He glanced down at the bottle. "Fuckin' po-me-gra-nay-tee? Fuck this shit, not happenin'. Get me something else."

"Pomegranate, Tig. It's pronounced POM- UH- GRANT." Jaci corrected and rolled her eyes. "You holler like you're fucking dying over BODY WASH? You are unbelievable. I don't even have words!"

"But yet your mouth is still moving." Tig said with a smirk.

She shook her head and started to dig around angrily in the bathroom cabinet. _Why why WHY did I bring him home with me? Stupid fucking idiot._ She found a bar of Irish Spring that she had bought when BB and Motor had stayed with her. She stood up and chucked the soap at him. He caught it and disappeared behind the shower curtain. She stood in the middle of the bathroom and listened to Tig hum while he showered. _Happy little fucker._ She started to stare at the toilet and contemplated flushing it and flooding the shower with freezing cold water.

"Don't even think about flushing that." Tig warned from behind the curtain.

She jerked her head toward the shower. She feigned offense. "Please. That would be completely childish." She headed toward the door. "Besides, I can't be sure it wouldn't spew scalding hot water instead…don't want to burn you and then have to listen to you bitch about _that_ all night. Oh and you're fucked on the shampoo…all I have is coconut. Pretend you're on vacation." She slammed the bathroom door shut.

Tig muttered _whatever_ and continued with his shower. He grunted as he started to lose his balance for the third time. He slammed his hand out against the shower wall. _Goddamnit! _Taking a shower was supposed to be a relaxing experience but that luxury was out of the fucking equation when you were trying not to bust your ass on a bad leg the whole time. He finally just steadied himself and leaned forward, letting the water spray hit and run down over his head. He spit water and tried to calm down.

_**XXX**_

Again, Jaci sat back down on the couch with her head flung back thinking about the cluster fuck of a night she had gotten herself into. _Why the fuck did I think it was a good idea to drag his ass back here? I'm so fucking retarded. _Spawn whined at her feet and took the pup outside to do his business. When they came back inside, the house was completely quiet. Jaci looked down the hall in the direction of her bedroom but didn't hear the shower running. She scooped up Spawn and put him in his crate for the night. "Night pup…trust me, you don't want to be around to see the rest of this night. Might get ugly."

She walked into her bedroom and found Tig, wearing only a pair of boxers, sprawled out on her bed. "Are you fucking kidding me? What're you doing?"

"Trying to fucking relax but someone won't shut the fuck up." Tig snapped without opening his eyes. He honestly hadn't meant to lay claim to her bed but when he finally got out of the shower he was completely exhausted and her bed was simply the closet place to crash. As soon as his body had hit the bed it was over for him, just like always, her bed was like quicksand to him.

"You didn't unwrap your leg, asshole. You're dripping water on my bed."

"Don't have fingernails to undo the goddamn DUCT TAPE you used."

Jaci let out a sharp sign and walked over to the bed. She pushed the leg of his boxers up slightly and went to work on unraveling the waterproofing. She tried to ignore the fact that he smelled amazing and was lying half naked in front of her.

Tig stared down at the top of Jaci's head while she worked. He fought back a nostalgic smile. _Goddamn she used to give a great head_. He lifted his arms and laced his fingers together on top of his head. "You know…I've had a really shitty day, so while you're down there…"

Jaci had a long length of duct tape in her hand and pulled it viciously from Tig's leg, taking away his breathe and more than a few leg hairs with it. She looked up sweetly at him and asked, "I'm sorry…what were you saying?"

"MMMMMM! FUCK!" Tig gritted his teeth and gripped his head with his hands. "Nothing…fuck!"

"That's what I thought." Jaci stood up straight and wadded the saran wrap and tape in her hands. "Ok, you're stitched, fed, showered, and drugged. My work is done." She turned and went straight to her closet, pulling out some lounge pants and a tank top then headed to her bathroom and shut the door. She changed clothes and downed her blood pressure pill along with her birth control. Thank God the blood pressure pills had been doing their job for the last two weeks or so. She would have stroked out for sure without them dealing with a wounded Tig.

She walked back into the bedroom and glanced at him. He had pulled the comforter over himself and seemed to be trying to sleep. "Sweet dreams, asshole." She called out as she strolled out of the room. Tig raised a hand without opening his eyes and flipped her off.

_**XXX**_

Jaci settled into Vix's bed and tried her hardest to go to sleep. She tossed and turned for an hour and had just started to doze off when an all too familiar ring tone blared from her cell phone. She grabbed her phone and hissed, "You're seriously calling me from _inside_ the house? What the hell do you want?"

"These pills have me jacked up instead of down. Come bore me to sleep." Tig replied.

"Oh fuck off. Leave me alone!" Jaci whined. "If I come back there, I'm going to smother you with a pillow."

"Would you lay on top of me to do it?" Tig teased and then lied. "Cause I'm horny as hell right now…I could seriously fuck for like three hours."

Jaci frowned. "Maybe I should've dropped you off at Cara Cara."

Tig snorted a laugh and hung up on her. Jaci blew out a frustrated sigh, flung back the covers and headed to her room. He smirked at her as she pushed the bedroom door open. She walked to the side of the bed and cocked an eyebrow at him.

"These fuckin pills, man. It's like I start dropping off then I'm jacked up again."

"Sucks for you."

"Would you quit being a bitch for five minutes and just sit down?" Tig snapped and rubbed his hands over his face. He had spent the last hour trying to relax, trying to fall asleep and slam the door shut on his horribly shitty day but couldn't manage it. The pills didn't have him that fucked up…Jaci did. Being in her house, in her bed, had his brain on overdrive and he gave up on trying to shut it up. He was exhausted and hurting and decided to just give into the one thing he knew could for sure relax him…talking to her. _Desperate times, desperate measures, blah blah._

Jaci started to protest but as she took a good look at Tig, she knew something had shifted with him. Calling her up to come bore him to sleep or to make a plea for a booty call…it was all bullshit. He wanted to talk, she suddenly was absolutely certain of that. She walked around to the other side of the bed and climbed up. She sat Indian style and cocked her head. He looked way more tired than he was admitting to. "I think you're lying about that being about to fuck for three hours."

He shrugged and said, "Come here and find out." She was sitting close enough so that he sat up slightly and grabbed her hand. He yanked her toward him but she caught herself with her hand on his chest.

"Easy biggin', don't wanna hurt yourself."

Tig snorted, "Can't hurt me...come here." He still had a hold of her hand and pulled her closer.

"Tig…come on." Jaci warned.

"You come on…come here."

She shook her head, "You're HIGH...you don't know what you're doing."

He grinned, "I don't know what I'm doing SOBER so what's it matter?"

"Oh it MATTERS...a lot." Jaci retorted. At that moment, he was so much like his old self, playfully and flirty, the man she had fallen in love with. She struggled with herself for a moment, trying to snuff out the sudden urge to give into him. They were dangerously close to each other, she had her hand rested on his chest and was leaned forward against his body. _This is a VERY bad position to be in! ABORT, ABORT! He hasn't wanted you in MONTHS, don't give into this bullshit now._

She cocked an eyebrow, "You wrecked your bike...I'm supposed to reward stupidity?" She made a fist with her hand and grabbed a handful of his chest hair.

"Ow." Tig half smiled and winced at the pain. "I didn't wreck my bike...BOBBY did." He clarified. "So who's stupid now?"

"Wow, I'm stupid AND a nobody. Nice work smooth talker."

"I'm full of shit, you know that." Tig replied with a smile. "Quit fuckin' around and come here." Part of him knew the flirting and the bad intentions he was feeling toward Jaci right now were a bad idea but he couldn't make himself care. Right now the only thing he wanted was his mouth against hers and his hands all over her. Hell he hadn't even been turned on until she crawled into bed with him. That simple little move had sparked all sorts of memories.

Deviousness clicked in her mind and she leaned in slowly like she was going to kiss him. Tig watched her with a look of total lust on his face. She licked her lips and said quietly, "Tig?"

"Mmmm?"

She smiled sweetly as she nudged him with her cheek against his. She whispered in his ear, "There is NO fuckin' way this is going to happen. Go to sleep." She pulled away from him and sat back down on the bed with a huge smirk on her face.

Tig glared at her as the huge metaphorical bucket of ice water was thrown on him. He didn't like it all, "That's fuckin' cold."

"Awww, you don't like it when I'm mean?"

"You can go now." Tig replied bluntly.

"Naaa, I'm just getting comfy."

They were quiet for a long time, both avoiding eye contact and thinking over the night's events. His pills started to kick in hard and he felt a huge internal downshift. Sleep might be coming a bit more easily now. He had been holding his cell phone in his hand but leaned to his left to toss it on the bedside table.

When he moved, Jaci saw several random dark bruises on his back and winced. _Shit, he really got hurt. __Ok, here goes nothing, it's been a long damn night, just try to play nice._ _Timeout right? _"You took a pretty good tumble huh?" She pointed towards him. "Your back…"

He rearranged a couple pillows behind his back and settled in against them. "Yeah…guess so."

A moment or two of silence passed between them. It had been so long since they had really talked instead of fought that neither one of them were exactly sure how to act. He thumbed at his nose and then nodded at her. "How many stitches did you have…in your knee? Like fifteen or something? Couldn't remember."

"Um, seventeen, so you got me beat." Jaci replied and thought back to the massive knee surgery she had had back in college. One minute she was good as gold, playing in a softball regional tournament and the next minute her playing days were over. She had healed up fine and had no real lingering effects but her recovery had taken too long and she had lost her spot on the college team. She finished out the last two years of college as a 'civilian.'

"Hurt pretty bad yeah?"

Jaci nodded. "Worst physical pain so far. Felt like someone had ripped my leg off at the knee. How are you feeling?"

Tig shrugged. "I'll live."

"Maybe you should find a less dangerous profession."

"But I'm a mechanic." Tig replied sarcastically.

"Mechanic my ass." Jaci said with a slight laugh but then winced at the sexual suggestiveness of the statement. She frowned. "You're lucky you know. Getting thrown off your bike…could of snapped your neck."

"Too bad huh?"

Jaci grimaced. Something about the dim light of the bedroom and the semi polite look on Tig's face made her confident enough to reply honestly. "I don't want you dead, Tig. You drive me crazy and piss me off and throw shit my way for no reason…but I don't want you hurt…well, not seriously anyway." She ventured a look at him and then dropped her eyes. She felt a twinge of internal guilt, after all she had been _praying _for God to drop the smackdown on Tig for months and now he is was all gimped up.

He smiled sadly at her honesty and threw out a bit of his own. "If you'd been hurt…I probably wouldn't have helped you…like you're doing. I'd be a dick about it."

"What else is new?" Jaci teased but then shrugged. "You never know. Hopefully we won't have to find out."

"Yeah." Tig suddenly found the wall very interesting and Jaci knew he was going to say something important, he had always dodged eye contact with the good stuff. That's what the fire pit had been for; he would stare at the flames so he didn't have to look at her. He cleared his throat. "When I wrecked today…the second I hit the dirt…my first thought was about my girls. How fucked up is that? I haven't thought about them in awhile."

Jaci was floored that Tig would mention his girls to her. They had been a subject rarely mentioned when they were together. She swallowed hard and tried to come up with the right response. She looked over at him, he was messing with a bruise on his hand. "It's not fucked up. I think everyone thinks of family and stuff in a moment like that."

"I haven't talked to them in forever. Was supposed to have a visit a few months ago but I canceled." Tig shook his head. "Doesn't matter…they don't give a shit."

"Tig?" Jaci waited until she had his attention. "Daughters _always_ give a shit about their fathers. Doesn't matter the distance or the time or even the situation…a girl always wants her daddy. I've told you that a million times, trust me on this."

He rolled his neck and looked up at the ceiling and she knew that topic was closed for discussion so she waited for him to start a new one. She leaned forward and put her elbows on top of her knees and played with her toe ring. Tig said completely evenly, "I can see your tits."

Jaci looked down at her chest and then to Tig. Yep, the twins were on display nicely in her tank top. She straightened up and half smiled. "Sorry."

"I wasn't complain'."

She noticed he was dropping his walls and was relaxing. "I like you better high...you're sorta like you used to be. Why can't you just stay that way permanently?" Tig didn't respond and Jaci decided to press the issue on the hope he might open up. "Why do you have to be so goddamn mean? I mean seriously, what'd I ever do to you?"

Tig wasn't that surprised by her pressing question. They had fell back into their old ways of talking very easily. He felt that connection flare up plain as day and just like back then, no topic was really off limits. He just shook his head. _What did you ever do to me? Mmph, how 'bout fuckin' EVERYTHING?_

"I'm that much of an asshole?"

Jaci rolled her eyes. "Not always but when you go there... you stop at nothing to reach your destination."

"So you're sayin' I'm an over achiever? I like that."

"How did you take that as praise?" Jaci asked with a laugh. "You know what…" She let out a long yawn. "I am too tired to care. "Go to sleep, Tig." She patted his arm and made a move to get out of bed. Things were getting way too familiar.

"Hey, where you goin?" He grabbed her hand, "You can't leave me in here...I'm scared of the dark and you didn't pack my blankie." He said sarcastically.

She laughed slightly, "You are SO full of it. It's not even dark in here genius, the lamp's on. And if you sleep with a BLANKIE, you've got bigger problems than I ever imagined."

He reached over and clicked the lamp off, still holding on to her hand. She had to admit to herself that she didn't really WANT to leave. She sighed and told her brain to shut up and resided herself to staying. She stole a pillow from him and laid down at the opposite end of the bed. "There...happy?"

"I'm never happy." Tig mumbled.

_**XXX**_

Half an hour had rolled by as Jaci laid on her back at the opposite end of the bed from Tig. He had his right hand resting on her shin. The only noise in the room was the sound of their slow even breathing. She had been sure he was asleep when he suddenly mumbled very quietly, "I've been stupid on a bike before."

"What are you talking about?" She frowned, having a hard time hearing him.

"Wrecked before." He said and then started to explain with slightly slurred speech. "Long time ago...lost it on the interstate. Had a girl on the back...she was a good girl." He was quiet for a moment and then said, "She didn't make it."

Jaci was stunned by the revelation. She wanted to prop herself up on her elbows but she was afraid to move, afraid the movement would spook him and kill the moment. She laid still but turned her head and stared in his direction even though she couldn't see him in the darkness. Her mind raced with questions. _He had a GIRL on his BIKE? She died and it was his fault? Holy shit. _"The girl...were you like...dating her? You were with her?"

"Yeah." He said simply. He didn't explain that other than that dead girl...he'd never been in love, had thought it was all bullshit until he had met Jaci. The part of him that still loved Jaci more than he could stand was screaming in his head, _GIVE HER SOMETHING!_ Jaci had had his back completely tonight and all he had given her was shit. Anyone else would have pushed him out of their car onto the street if they had shown up at the ER at all. He swallowed hard and said, "Not riding with me? That was never about YOU. Ok? Wasn't anything against you."

His words made up tear up instantly. She couldn't find her voice for a moment but finally choked out, "Ok."

She had never asked to ride with Tig cause she knew he'd either say NO or laugh at her or both. Vix rode with Juice all the time, loved it but Jaci knew that wasn't Tig's thing. She had always thought it was some little macho rule he wasn't breaking for her. To hear that he didn't want her to ride with him so she wouldn't get HURT...that was a huge admission. Suddenly she couldn't help herself from missing him intensely and didn't want the connection to break..

Jaci sat up and reached out, grabbing a hold of his hand softly. "Tig?" She whispered but didn't get a response. She shook his hand but all he managed was a grunt. "Tig, don't go to sleep. Wake up." Tears started to fall down her cheeks. "Come on, wake up...stay with me for a minute." He made an annoyed mumble and she knew he was lost to sleep and she feared that when he woke up in the morning, he'd be right back to being the insufferable prick he'd been for months. She sighed. "Shit." She wiped her eyes with one hand while still keeping a hold of his with her other. She sat there thinking about them for a long time before leaning back and falling asleep.

_**XXX**_

Rachel shook her head as she stood in the flowerbed under Vix's bedroom window, watching her friend jimmy open the window lock. "Isn't this house protected by an alarm or something?"

Vix looked over and smiled, a little drunkenly at her friend. "This house is protected by the Good Lord and enough guns to arm a small country. And we do have an alarm but we never bother to turn it on no more, cause the neighbor's damn cat, Screwie Louie keeps trippin' the motion sensors." Vix grinned. "Ha! Got that one. Now if only I can manage..."

"Ain't it a bit retarded NOT to just go through the front door?"

"What if they're sitting in the living room? We're sneaking in now cause if fuckin' Tig is still here, I pray he is stone cold passed out in the damn living room and I don't want to awake the beast."

"Why you so afraid of him?" Rachel asked with a laugh.

Vix scoffed, "I'm AFRAID...I just don't LIKE HIM anymore."

Rachel frowned, "So you used to like him?"

"Well...I guess so. I mean, J was happy with him for awhile...then he dumped her and went all asshole again, so now I hate him."

'Oh, ok. Yeah, I still can't get my head around your sister being with him...that's so weird."

"Preaching to the choir, chica."

"I am twenty eight damn years old. What the hell am I doin? I didn't SNEAK IN when I was a teenager. My Monster never gave two shits that I existed at all well, except tax time."

Vix laughed quietly. "Me as a teenager, I was practically Houdini, to the point Aunt Roxy made Uncle BB and the boys hack down a big ol' chestnut tree out of their side yard, my known escape route."

Finally the other lock clicked open. "YES! Got it. Ok, hold this." Vix pushed the screen up and then her window. She grabbed hold of the window frame and pulled herself up and halfway in the window...and then could get no further. "FUCK! Rach...I'm stuck. My belt buckle or something is..."

They heard a bark and Vix looked over and saw an very startled and excited Spawn in his crate. "Shhhh shhh little dude, it's Mama! Hang on... I'm comin' Spawn baby!"

Rachel hoisted herself part way in the window, and was half-laying on top of her friend as she tried to reach around her to dislodge whatever had Vix hung up.

"You're smooshing me." Vix giggled. "And now I have to pee."

"Well you need to shimmy forward or something or maybe pull back a bit. I can reach it but I have nothing to play with. Give me something, sweetie."

"Oh my god that sounded sooo wrong!" Vix laughed.

"Shhhh!" Rachel chided. "You really want your sister to come in here guns blazing or HIM to find us like this. It be like Hanukkah, the visual that keeps on giving lewd jokes."

"Ok, how is that?" Vix said pulling slightly backwards. In his crate, the pup began to whine. "Sh it's ok baby. Mama'll be there in a second."

"Mmm nah, you gotta move the other direction."

Vix cursed under her breath and pulled herself in the other direction just enough for Rachel to free her belt buckle from the window frame. "There we go." Rachel announced as she pulled back out of the window and let Vix slide through and disappear inside.

A few seconds later, Vix returned, sticking hers and Spawn's head out the window. "Meet me out back, I'll unlock the gate. He's gotta do his biz, he got all excited that I'm home. Not that I blame him, poor baby having to put up with Tigger all damn night. I don't put it past him to have tortured the poor baby... _Sins or the Fathe_r, type shit."

Rachel just shook her head and made her way in the dark to the back yard. Vix opened the gate from the inside and they stood watching Spawn run around finding a spot.

"He looks no worse for the wear of having dealt with ..."

Vix held up a hand. "Tig's specialty is psychological warfare crap. Poor baby is probably scared for life." She bent down and picked up the pup from where he wandered over by her feet. "It's ok Mama is back, yes she is."

"I'm hitting the hay." Rachel announced. "We gotta open the salon in six hours and I've got three back to back cut n colors."

They walked back around to the front of the house and Vix climbed back inside her room. She tip toed into the living room and used her cell phone as a flashlight. The room was oddly empty. She opened the front door for Rachel and took Spawn from her. Rach headed to her room while Vix stood frowning in the living room. She walked to the garage, opened the door, and confirmed Jaci's Mustang was parked there. Suddenly, her sister's and Tig's whereabouts clicked in her head.

She stalked quietly down the hall and peered inside her sister's bedroom doorway. She couldn't see much so she punched a button and her cell phone sprang to silent life again. She walked over to the bed and discovered Tig sleeping normally, head toward the headboard of the bed. Jaci laid with her head in the opposite direction, near the foot of the bed on top of the covers.

"Motherfucker." Vix breathed. Spawn growled slightly. "My thoughts exactly, baby." She frowned. _Surely they didn't fuck, right? Who would DO IT and then sleep all separate like that...unless they're trying to throw me off. But Jaci HATES him, right?_

_**XXX**_

The next morning, Jaci woke up and rolled out of bed. Tig was snoring loudly so she left him in his peaceful drug and exhaustion induced sleep. She took a shower and was dressed in only her panties and bra as she put on her makeup. She was leaning toward the mirror, applying eyeliner when the bathroom door that had been just cracked, pushed all the way open. Tig stood in the doorway completely naked and looking very grumpy. Without a word he limped into the bathroom and flipped up the toilet seat.

Jaci got a look at him in the mirror's reflection, panicked slightly and turned toward him but then thought better of it and turned back toward the mirror and tried to avert her eyes. Tig saw her scrambling for a way to act and smirked. "Calm down, will ya? You act like you never seen it before." He widened his stance and continued to take a piss. "Wanna hold it?"

"You never did THAT when we were together, WHY would you think its ok NOW?" She took one more quick glance in his direction, "And how did you end up naked?"

Tig flushed and shrugged,"'Dunno." He stood in the bathroom with a perma scowl on his face. He was half asleep and his stitched up leg was hurting and stiff. He looked over the array of stuff in front of Jaci on the sink: concealer, foundation, powder, eye shadow, liner, mascara. "That's a lot of shit to be puttin' on."

"No it's not, it's perfectly normal." Jaci said defensively and rolled her eyes. "Geez, I'd forgotten how fun you are in the morning."

Tig muttered, "Fuuuuuck you." under his breath.

"Hey, do you remember want we talked about last night?"

He stopped at the door, frowned at her and lied, "I remember taking a shower."

"You don't remember anything else?" She cocked her head and held her eyeliner in her hand.

He shook his head and then smirked, "Oh shit...did we fuck? Is that why I'm naked?"

"NO! We had entire CONVERSATIONS. You don't remember them?"

"Nope." He lied again and hobbled back to the bed. It was way easier to lie about it all rather than have to deal with the awkwardness of it in the daylight. "Hey, I'm not getting up till like fuckin' noon so don't even start bitchin' at me."

Jaci knew he was lying about his lack of memory. Her anger flared and she started slamming drawers and cabinets while she finished getting ready for the day. Tig laid on his back in her bed and yelled, "'Quit fuckin' bangin' around, will ya? I'm trying to SLEEP!'

She stormed out of the room and slammed the door without saying anything. He sighed. _Well that fixes that...walls are back up, she's good and pissed at me...just like it should be._

_**XXX**_

At 12:30 in the afternoon, Tig finally woke back up. While he was still lying in bed, he called Bobby and arranged for his pickup. _Bitch taxi. _He literally rolled out of bed and stumbled to get his boxers on. He searched around the room, found his duffel bag of stuff and dumped the contents onto the bed. He rifled through it twice to verify what he was seeing. "You've got to be shittin' me."

Bobby arrived at Parker Place twenty minutes later and rang the doorbell. Tig pulled opened the door with a very pissed off look on his face. His hair was wild and he was sporting a black t-shirt, black mesh shorts, and flip flops. He stood leaning on one crutch, his bandaged leg showing slightly from underneath his shorts. Bobby fought back a smile. "Well if that ain't one for an episode of _What Not to Wear_, I don't know what is."

The look on Tig's face could have killed. "Shut the fuck up...this is all your fault. Get me the fuck out of here, asshole."

Bobby laughed and held his hands up. "Hey, you're the one wearing it."

"I didn't pick this shit out…SHE did."

"Ahhh." Bobby looked the outfit over again. "Oh, I get it…she was trying to keep your bum leg free. Very practical."

Tig started limping out the door, now carrying his boots, duffel bag and SAMCRO cut against his chest. "She can take PRACTICAL and shove it up her goddamn ass." He made it a few steps down the walkway and turned around. "Wait, why am I carry this shit?" He shoved his bag and his boots at Bobby and then hobbled to the van holding all his cut.

Bobby grinned as he held Tig's stuff in one hand and fished his cell phone out of his pocket. He walked quietly behind his injured friend and snapped a picture of him. _Best ransom photo EVER._

_**XXX**_

Jaci had just finished making her selections at the bakery and was waiting for her order to be filled when her cell phone sprang to life. After two notes of the ring tone, Jaci rolled her eyes and hit IGNORE. She paid for the box of sweets and headed out the door. Vix and Rach had begged her to make an afternoon cookie run. She had just settled into her car when her phone rang again.

"WHAT?" Jaci snapped into the phone.

"You think this shit is funny?" Tig hissed. He glared out the window has Bobby drove him in the van.

"Could you be more specific?"

"Shorts and fuckin' flip flops! Are you fuckin' kidding me?" He yelled at her and then noticed Bobby was driving in the opposite direction of his house. He glared at his chauffeur and started to berate him, "Hey, where the fuck are you goin', dipshit? My house is THAT way."

"Going to the clubhouse." Bobby answered without hesitation.

Tig wigged out. "No fuckin' way! I'm NOT stepping foot in that place like this. Clay made you my bitch...so turn the fuckin' cage around!"

Jaci sat back in the car seat and listened to the fight. "Wow...I'm so sorry I didn't stick around and hang out with you this morning, you're in a really good mood."

"Fuck you." Tig hissed back at her and started back in on Bobby. "Bobby, I'm fuckin'

serious, man."

"Soooo are you done whining to me about your little outfit or is there more?" Jaci asked with a smile on her face and in her voice. "Silly me thought you might be calling to say thanks for taking care of you last night."

Tig was suddenly not sure WHY he called. He didn't have to call and complain. He frowned at the phone. "Yeah well...that ain't happenin'."

"So is there a point to this call...or did you FORGET?"

"What?'

She decided to just put it all out there. "I know you're lying about not remembering talking to me last night...and I think that's pretty shitty."

Tig just scoffed, "Whatever."

"Whatever? Ok...fine." Jaci grumbled and just hung up on him. LOST CAUSE.

_**XXX **_

Bobby pulled onto the Teller Morrow lot and swung out of the van. He looked back inside and watched as Tig sat motionless on the passenger side. "Oh come on...get out!"

"Shut up." Tig snapped but he finally opened his door and lowered himself onto the pavement. He hobbled around for a moment and got situated on his crutches and they headed for the clubhouse.

Only Chibs, Opie and Clay were still around. Everyone else had headed on home after getting back from the "charity" run. Tig limped into the clubhouse and just waited for the fallout.

Opie spotted him first, but could only see him from the waist up due to his vantage point from the bar. "Hey, man...how you doin'?"

Before Tig could answer, Clay came walking out from the bathroom and laid eyes on the full glory of Tig's attire. He grinned widely, "Holy shit. What the fuck happened to you?"

"That's right...fuckin' let me have it." Tig said, expecting the bullshit ribbing.

Opie frowned and stepped around the bar as Chibs looked up from scribbling a note for the Prospect. The Scotsman took a good look at Tig and lost it, he busted out laughing and held up his thumb and pinky, "Surf's up, eh brother?"

"Did you get dressed in the dark?" Op asked with a smile.

Tig just stood there and rolled his eyes, taking the jabs. He muttered, _Fuckin' bitch' _under his breath.

"She was trying to help...you can't squeeze your banged up leg into jeans right now." Bobby explained and tried to defend Jaci.

"I wasn't talking about her, I was talking about YOU." Tig snapped at Bobby.

Clay started laughing, "Oh Jaci did this to you?"

"I'm guessing you weren't NICE?" Op asked.

Tig threw his crutches to the floor and limped over to the couch to sit and pout.

_~To be continued...and just bear with us, we are a chapter or two away from something BIG that will make you guys sad, mad and happy all at the same time. Trust us._


	11. Chapter 10Complications

**Walk Away from the Son****  
Parker Sister Saga continues – Season 2 of SoA  
****Chapter 10- Runaway Train (A **_**Trifecta)**_

**By BG and Reaper**

**Note:**** (similar to HELL WEEK) RUNAWAY TRAIN will be a multi-posting chapter, 3 parts... a **_**Trifecta**_** of sorts. The events that occur are limited to a two day period of time, but their repercussions will long reverberate through Parker Land. If the length seems a bit "non-epic", we are trying to break it up for impact and clarity. We will try to update and not leave you teetering with "cliffhanger-y" endings for too long.**

**On another note: ****we are going extremely **_**SUTTER-LITE**_** with regard to timing and event sequence, so if stuff doesn't go down exactly like you remember, just relax & take comfort in these 5 little words… **_**It's not you… it's US!**_

**We thank the fans for their fantastic reviews – we love them, keep them coming. We also give an obvious silent shout out to Rosanne Cash (unless she reads SoA fan fics) for her song, entitled the same as this chapter and referenced in all three parts. **

**So without further ado we present:**

**RUNAWY TRAIN: Part 1 - Complications**

_**I'm worried about you, I'm worried about me  
The curves around midnight aren't easy to see  
Flashing red warnings, unseen in the rain  
This thing has turned into A Runaway Train.**_

_**XXX**_

"Come on, Kenny! Get a move on or you'll be late for school." Mary hounded as the young boy made a production out of eating his Cinnamon Toast Crunch. She grabbed the remote and flicked off the TV.

"I got a belly ache. Can I stay home?"

Walking over and laying the back of her hand against his forehead, she announced, "You're not running a fever. You look healthy."

Ellie rolled her eyes, "You didn't do your homework... did you?"

Kenny stared at the little toasted squares floating in the pool of milk in the bowl in front of him.

"Kenneth Winston!" Mary hollered. "You get your school work and get it done NOW."

"But… we haffta leave in a .."

"Well then you better hurry."

"I ... I can't." Kenny offered with his bottom lip quivering. "I can't find the word, maybe I didn't spell it good on my paper… and all the kids will think I'm dumb anyway… and my belly really hurts."

Ellie eyed her grandmother who looked at a loss and rolls her eyes. "Go get me your word, hurry up."

Mary nods, "you heard your sister." She watches the kid stand up slowly and walk out of the kitchen at a snail's pace.. "HIGH GEAR! KENNY!"

A few minutes later he slammed his backpack down on the kitchen table and pulled out his homework folder. Ellie reached over and snatched up the vocabulary sheet. She eyed the words, nodding until she got to the last one. With a raised eyebrow she tried to decipher the word. "What is it supposed to be?"

Kenny shrugged as Ellie rushed over and grabbed up the dictionary in an attempt to narrow down the choices. "Combination? Computation? Contemplation? Complication?"

"I think it's that one, the last one." Kenny nodded emphatically.

Ellie nodded and pointed to the entry. "Here, copy this stuff right here. And write it nice… you have really sloppy handwriting, like a doctor or a serial murderer."

Mary eyes her granddaughter, "Serial murderer? Really? What do you watch on television?"

"I like Tru TV." Ellie replied with a shrug.

Kenny laughed, "_Not Reality… Actuality._" as he recited the channel's tag line.

"HOMEWORK… KENNY!"

Digging out a pencil, Kenny began writing: _**Complication – Noun. A complex combination of elements or things. Something that introduces unexpected and difficult problems. A concurrent issue that aggravates the situation. The act of forming a unified idea or impression from a number of data sources.**_

Mary stared at the homework, "That's a hard word for a second grader."

"Complication isn't easy for any body." Ellie said before finishing her orange juice.

_**XXX**_

"Morning!" Gemma called out as she entered Jax's kitchen and eased herself into a chair at the table with a cup of coffee and a groan. "Baby with Neeta?"

"At the park." Tara answered and then eyed the older woman. "You still that sore?"

"It's getting worse. I'm so damn stiff."

"Are you dry?"

Gemma smirked. "Like the Mojave Vagina."

"It's the stress...your body isn't producing enough Estrogen. I'll write you a prescription."

They both look up as Jax and Chibed entered the kitchen from different entrances.

"Good Morning, children." Chibs said with a grin.

Jax up-nodded. "Thought the prospect was with you?"

"Oh no. No... the wee man goes under the knife today... gettin' his sack filled."

"Excuse me?" Gemma asks incredulously.

"He's completing himself." Chibs added in an attempt to clarify.

"The prospect is having surgery?" Tara asked."Where? is anyone with him?"

"San Fran VA Medical Center. Jaci tagged along, keep him company. It's just a little over night thing. He didn't want a lotta fuss... think he's a little bit embarrassed" Chibs tossed a look at Jax."We're supposed to meet Clay at the shop."

Jax nodded and the two say their goodbyes and headed out.

_**XXX**_

Ethan Zoebelle and AJ Weston stood outside the store front at _Impeccable Smokes. _They stopped talking and watched as a car made its way down Main Street, the sounds of _The Black Crows_ blaring out the open windows.

_Boys and things that come by the dozen  
That ain't nothin' but drugstore lovin'  
Hey little thing let me light your candle  
'Cause mama I'm sure hard to handle, now,gets around_

The car wheeled into a spot in front of the salon across the street. The song continued reverberating from the interior…

_ACTION speaks louder than WORDS  
And I'm a man of great experience…_

Suddenly, the engine was killed,the driver's side door flung open, and out stepped Vix Parker. She peered inside the vehicle and snapped her fingers, a second later a Doberman pup clambered out the open door. Vix shut the door with a forceful swing of her hip and turned starting towards the salon with the pup trailing happily behind her.

"Miss Parker!" Ethan Zoebelle called out loudly.

Vix stopped at hearing someone call her and turned. She eyed the pair standing twenty feet away. "What?" She hollered back.

Ethan nodded towards the puppy standing at its mistress' feet. "There happens to be a leash ordinance in this town."

She glared at him and his White Hate henchman. "If that's the case.. you may want to get one for your _**DOG**_, too." She nodded at Weston. "They are in aisle five at Noah's."

Weston just stood sneering at the cocky cunt who betrayed her race. Zoebelle just chuckled and then offered, "Just wouldn't want anything to happen to that which you hold dear."

The thinly veiled threat was not lost on Vix. She quickly gathered Spawn in her arms and retreated into the salon. Once inside she stood glaring out the window.

Rachel walked over to her. "What do they want?"

"A White, White World." Vix deadpanned. She looked at her friend. "They threatened my baby!" She hugged Spawn close to her.

"You need to tell your _friends_. Don't be stupid Vix, I know you're like me and don't scare easy but that motherfucker..." Rachel nodded towards Weston, "He makes ME want to run in the opposite direction just as fast as my Doc Martens will take me."

_**XXX**_

Kipp sat on the hospital gurney nervously twirling his thumbs in his lap. He glanced around, waiting to be wheeled back for surgery. After fifteen minutes of waiting, a nurse stuck her head in the room.

"Sorry...we're running a bit behind. I noticed you had a friend with you in the lobby. Do you want me to bring her back for a little bit, keep you company?" The nurse offered and Kipp nodded his head emphatically.

Jaci walked into the little room a few moments later and a huge smile blossomed across her face. "You are SO cute."

"Shut up... please." Kipp warned as he blushed. He was wearing a hospital gown and a blue hair cap. She pulled up a chair next to the bed and settled in for the long wait. Kipp decided to make small talk, anything to keep his mind from wandering to the surgery. "So I guess you're gettin' pretty good at taking care of injured bikers, huh? How'd it go with Tig the other night?"

"Don't ask stupid questions, Kipp." Jaci replied with a stern look.

"Oh...sorry."

"You'd better be or I'll snap a picture of you in that getup and text it to your _b__ros." _Jaci threatened with a smile. 

_**XXX **_

Jacob Hale pushed through the door of Twisted Scissors and was at once greeted by smells reminiscent of a tropical island and a shrill bark. He glanced over and saw a young Doberman puppy, bearing both cropped ears and a set of blazing white teeth.

"SPAWN!" Called a female voice. Rachel walked into the main room of the salon. "He's just getting used to his surroundings and is a bit riled up today. May I help you?" She stooped and picked up the pup.

"Take your dog to work day?" He questioned with a smile that set Rachel's skin to crawling.

"He's our salon mascot. Are you wanting to book an appointment?"

"Just checking in to see how business is going. Forgive me, Jacob Hale, Hale Property and Casualty. I'm the Parkers' insurance agent, amongst the many roles I play in this town. Are either of them around?"

"Rachel... I work for Vix. You just missed her, she's got classes today and Jaci is out of town until tomorrow."

He pulled a business card out of an inside pocket of his business suit, "Too bad, you'll tell them I stopped by."

"Sure thing." She replied with a nod as she watched the man go to leave.

"Oh, I will have to do some checking into it, but I believe that having a canine on the premises, especially of a breed listed on the _CDC's 10 Most Dangerous Dogs List_, may negate the salon's liability coverage. Please have Vix call my office to review her policy."

Rachel watched as the man cuts a line across the street to the cigar shop.

_**XXX**_

AJ Weston stood flanking the outside entrance to the smokes shop while his boss and Jacob Hale carried on a conversation inside. In the breast pocket of his shirt, his cell phone rang. He plugged one ear against the sounds of approaching motorcycles and conducted a very short conversation as some of the members of SAMCRO were parking their bikes.

Inside the shop, Jacob nodded toward the front window and the Sons. "And this problem?"

"On its way to being a footnote." Ethan Zoebelle replied.

They both watched as Clay Morrow walked through the door, Hale nodded towards Zoebelle as he walked for the exit, "I'll be in touch."

"Man that's a sweet, sweet smell." Clay muttered.

"It's Panamanian." Ethan advised.

"Thought it was time I came by, gave you a proper welcome." Clay announced with a grin. "Don't know if you know this but a lot of the shop keepers 'round here ..."

"Kick up an exorbitant vig for the seed money you loan them?" Ethan finished. "As you can see I don't need start up."

Clay waved a finger. "Ah, but you're gonna need protection... to keep this beautiful set up from turning into say, that crank lab.. Clay grinned. "You either pay or you go away. It's up to you, Adolf."

_**XXX**_

As she sat with Kipp, a thought jumped in Jaci's head. "Hey, didn't you say once that your mom lives here in San Fran?"

"Yeah."

"Well did you tell her you were going to be here today?" 

"Don't ask stupid questions, Jaci." It was Kipp's turn to give HER a look. "Heck no, I didn't call her. I feel weird enough having YOU here with me, I'm not going to call my MOM and say, 'hey mom, I'm replacing my missing TESTICLE today, wanna drop by?"

"It's SURGERY, Kipp...she's your mother, she should be here." 

"It's MINOR surgery." 

Jaci cocked an eyebrow, "Are they putting you under?" 

"Yeah." 

"Do you know how many people die from anesthesia complications every year?" 

Kipp's eyes went wide. "Are you saying I'm going to die?" 

"Nooo...but if you do, I don't want to be the one to explain to your mother that the reason she didn't get to see you one last time was because you were too CHICKENSHIT." Jaci shoved her cell phone at him. "Call her." He shook his head and shoved the phone back at her. They pushed the phone back and forth a few more times before Kipp finally relented. 

No one in the history of telephone use had ever prayed harder for voice mail. _Don't pick up, don't pick up. _

Jaci laughed, "You know you're actually saying that ALOUD, right?"

Kipp frowned at her and then discomfort registered on his face as his mother actually answered the phone. "Oh hey, Mom. What're you up to?"

_**XXX**_

Weston made his way back inside the shop after watching Clay distribute boxes of cigars he was sure weren't paid for. He glanced at his boss and advised, "Stockton called. Inside's a go."

"And out here, we need to humble Mr. Morrow." Ethan commented cooly.

"Yes, sir." Weston replied, keeping his pleasure at finally being given the green light for more action out of his voice.

_**XXX**_

After Kipp was finally taken back for surgery, Jaci made her way back out to the minimily filled waiting room. She sat down and picked up a well worn copy of PEOPLE magazine. She'd brought along her laptop and could have very well started in on the files she'd downloaded and needed to review, but she felt as if that was the last thing she wanted to do. Right now she felt like sitting here and reading _No Butts About It. _She was rolling her eyes atKim Kardashian denying rumors that she has butt cheek implants- blaming her booty on her heritage, when she heard heels clicking on the tile floor.

Looking up, she saw a woman stride down the hall and into the waiting room. She was dessed in slacks and heels of a deep brown and an opalescent cream colored blouse. A perfect crimson color was painted on lips that were meant to hold a smile but were currently poised in a worried frown. Removing her sunglasses, she scanned the room and it was then that certain _features-in-common_ began to jump out in Jaci's mind. The Prospect had certainly inherited his mother's eyes, as well as her nose and chin.

"Mrs. Epps?" Jaci inquired, standing up to greet the woman.

The woman turned and flashed a warm smile in Jaci's direction, "You must be Kipp's friend. I'm Martina Epps, but please call me Marti. So very delighted to make your acquaintance darlin'."

Hearing the woman's Southern draw sent a shock wave of home sickness thru Jaci before she could stop it. She quickly nodded, "Sure am." She extended her hand. "Jaci Parker ma'am and the pleasure is all mine."

Marti laughed, "My you are from Alabama aren't you."

"Guilty as charged." Jaci replied and wondered how the woman had pinpointed her origins so easily since Kipp had only mentioned _a__ friend_ was there at the hospital with him. "Wow, didn't realize the 'bama accent was that recognizable."

"Oh it's not all that, darlin'. The accent is certainly present, however, I'd have been hard pressed to decide from which state you actually haled had that lovely lady I met at the auto garage a few weeks ago not mentioned having _'Bama girls in her midst_."

Jaci frowned. _Lovely lady? At TM? Gemma? _ "Gemma Morrow?"

"Yes, Gemma.. that was her name." Marti smiled again.

Jaci sat back down and patted the chair next to hers, "Have a seat… we've got some time to burn before he's out."

Marti suddenly looked startled, as if she'd forgotten momentarily that she was in a hospital and her son was having surgery. Jaci watched as the woman looked at the door leading to the surgical area with concern etched on her face. Jaci reached out and patted her hand. "He'll be ok. The doctor said he expected smooth sailing throughout the procedure." She decided to change the subject and asked. "So you were at TM a few weeks back?"

"Yes. I stopped by to check up on my wayward son. Mrs. Morrow insisted, for which I am truly grateful, that Kipp accompany me to a late lunch."

Things started clicking in Jaci's mind as she realized _this_was who Kipp was having lunch with on that fateful day of complete misunderstanding that lead to Vix's life turning upside down. Wonderful.

Marti liked Jaci immediately and looked over the young woman with a smile; so pretty and friendly."So how long have you known my son?"

"Oh, months and months now." Jaci thought back over all the odd moments with Kipp, never a dull time.

The pair made small talk, getting to know each other. They talked about Kipp and Charming and of course their Southern roots. After a bit, Jaci got the very distinct impression that Marti misunderstood the definition of _friend_ and thought she might better clear the air. "Hey Marti, I don't know what all Half Sack..." Jaci clamped her hand over her mouth in horror. She had just called Kipp _HALF SACK_ to his own mama's face. She was mortified. "I mean KIPP...sorry!"

Marti laughed it off. "Boys and their crude nicknames."

"I really try NOT to call him that, honest. But sometimes it just slips out." Jaci explained. "Anyway...I don't know what he's said about me but we're _just friends_. I mean...I LOVE your boy...but just more as a brother."

"Well that's too bad." Marti replied with a laugh. "Here I was hoping he was all hooked up with a nice Southern belle. Got any sisters?"

Jaci busted out laughing, "Uh, yeah, two...but you don't want him anywhere near them, trust me! The older one is a lost cause on too many levels to count and the younger one, Vix? Well she is cool… she's actually buddies with Kipp but as a girlfriend, she'd eat him alive." She looked down at her phone to get the time and see how much longer she had to embarrass herself with Kipp's mom. She saw that she had actually missed a call. She had forgotten to turn the ringer back on when she'd left the surgical prep room. "Excuse me. Missed a call." She said to Marti and listened to the message. It was Rosen.

_"Hey there...confidential informant told me you were in town. You didn't drop by and say hi...I'm horribly offended._" Jaci smiled, knowing that Rosen's CI was 5'2, had three grandkids and an extreme love of peppermint tea, aka his secretary. She had dropped some papers by the Oakland office and chatted for a moment with the lady.  
_"Anyway, if you're in town today and not busy, my lunch schedule is clear, we should get together. Give me a call if you get this in the next hour or so."_

Without realizing it, Jaci let out a huge sigh. Lunch with Jason Rosen...there was a big idea. She knew he had been after her since the day she had started working at the firm's satellite office in Charming. They had flirted a few times, but she had always kept it light because she had been with Tig. He had asked her a out few times and she had always declined. But she wasn't WITH Tig anymore, she didn't have to decline unless SHE wanted to. And yes, Rosen had made a drunken move on her and she had the good sense to shut him down but that's was more because she had still been sorta pining for Tig but that was over now. Rosen was nice enough, cute enough and they didn't have to work together so anything they started up wouldn't really cause a professional issue. Jaci frowned with conflict. Tig was out of the picture, no matter how much he kept rearing his head and throwing some tantrem, they were done. It was time to move on...wasn't it? Jaci had all but made up her mind when she realized that she wasn't actually available for lunch...duh- she was on hospital duty.

"Everything alright?" Marti asked with an inquizitive smile.

Jaci had zoned out for a moment but snapped her attention back to Kipp's mom. "Oh, yeah...everything's fine."

Marti laughed. "You sure? That sigh you let out and that frown on your face beg to differ."

"Sorry." Jaci blushed. "It's just...this friend of mine asked me to lunch."

"Friend? You look conflicted, I'm never conflicted about lunch with a _friend._"

"Well...I know he wants to be more than that." Jaci clarified but then waved Marti off. "Doesn't matter, I'm busy today."

"Like hell you are." Marti snorted and looked at her watch. "You can go to lunch, there is plenty of time before Kipp is out of surgery and recovery and I am perfectly capable of handling my son by myself.' She grinned and pointed her finger at Jaci. "I think you need to go on this lunch date."

"It's not a date." Jaci blurted automatically.

"My ass...come on, tell Mama Marti all about it."

Jaci sighed but couldn't help but feel a good vibe toward Marti. The lady had started off very proper but was reminding her greatly of Roxy. _From Straight Laced Southern Socialite to good ole Southern mama in 5.2 seconds. All mama's go crazy for love drama. _She thought about just calling Roxy about the Rosen matter and asking for advice but she knew she'd have to listen to a lecture about why she had started things up with Tig in the first place before she ever got to any useful advice about how to proceed with things now. With Marti, she could gloss over the past and just gleam the useful advice about the present. "Ok...long story short, I was seeing this guy and I probably never should have even went that down that path but anyway, we broke up."

"Was he in Kipp's little club?" Marti asked with a raised eyebrow. "Cause there are few of men in that club I wouldn't mind seeing myself. But you know, just as a fling...they don't look to be the type for much else."

Marti's bluntness caused Jaci's mouth dropped open. She fumbled over whether or not to lie. She didn't want Marti playing the guessing game on which Son she had been with so she fibbed. "Um...no, he's not a Son. Was just a guy, things were pretty serious but ended badly a few months ago and I haven't really moved on. But now I'm thinking it's time and this guy Jason that's calling, I work with him, um...indirectly."

"You haven't had a rebound and its been months?" Marti exclaimed. "Oh girl...you need to take this lunch date. Every girl's has to have a rebound after a nasty breakup, it's the law."

Jaci found herself grinning as Marti talked. _A rebound...yeah, why didn't I think of that? I don't have to MARRY Rosen, just have lunch, have a few dates if he wants...hell, have SEX! That wouldn't kill me. Just have a rebound._

"Call him." Marti said sternly.

"Yeah?"

"Yes. Right now...do go lunch and then head home. You've done enough for Kipp, I can handle him from here. I'll get him settled in his room here tonight and even bring him back to Charming tomorrow, save you the trip."

Jaci keyed up her cellphone and took a deep breath. She smiled at Marti and hit send after selecting Rosen's number. He picked up on the third ring. "Hey, Jason...it's Jaci."

"Well hey youself. I take it you got my message about lunch." Rosen said brightly.

"Oooh Jaci and Jason, that's cute." Marti said with a laugh.

Jaci shushed her and kept talking. "Yeah, I got your message." She closed her eyes and forced herself to say, "I'm in...lunch sounds great."

"Really? Um...ok, that's...that's great." Rosen was more than a little shocked at Jaci's acceptance. She usually dodged any of his non work related advances. "Where are you right now? There is a neat Chinese place I think you'd like."

"Actually, I'm across the bridge in San Fran...but I can head your way."

"Great! I'll text you the address and meet you there, does that work?" Rosen replied with a big smile in his voice.

"Perfect. I'll see you in a bit." Jaci said and end the call with her heart pounding. _Shit, I did it. I'm moving on...I'm rebounding. Oh man._She glanced skyward, _Lord please don't let me make a complete jackass fool of myself with this!_

Marti squealed with laughter and clapped her hands. "Oh this is FUN! Let me give you my number, you HAVE to call me later and tell me how this lunch went!"

_**XXX**_

Any bright hopes Jaci had for lunch were dashed fifteen minutes later. As she walked across the hospital parking lot, her phone rang...it was Rosen.

"Jason." She answered with a smile.

"Hey...I got bad news, I have to bail on lunch." Rosen announced. "Just got a call about one of my clients that's in prison. He got jumped, I have to go see what happened."

Jaci's smile faded. "Oh...I'm sorry."

"No, I'M sorry. I've been wanting to take you out forever. I hate this came up. I'd say we could wait and have dinner but I don't know how long this is going to take." Rosen rolled his eyes has he thought about how dramatic his afternoon was about to get. Having to tell Jax Teller that Otto had been jumped was not on Rosen's list of favorite activites for the day.

"No...it's ok, it's ok. I totally understand." Jaci kicked at the pavement in frustration. "Just um...you go do your thing and we'll get together some other time."

"I will call you tomorrow. Maybe we can do something this weekend?" Rosen ventured.

"Sounds good. See ya."

"Bye...I'm sorry, Jaci."

Jaci hit END on her cell and turned back toward the hospital. Now she had to go burst Marti's bubble, there would be no steamy rebound details. She frowned as she walked across the parking lot. _Jason's clients in prison...wonder if it's SAMCRO related? Shit, wouldn't that be a cosmic cockblock?_

_**XXX**_

Deputy Chief Hale was sitting at his desk starring in disbelief at his computer screen when Jax Teller burst through the door.

"I just got a call, Otto was jumped at Stockton. The League has a line straight to the Aryan Shot Callers." Jax shook his head harshly. "We don't know what we're dealing with here. These guys aren't Darby, they're not some half-bright thugs. I gave you the meth lab .. you gave Darby a pass."

"I didn't give anybody a pass." Hale shot back with indignation.

"Don't you see what is happening here? You are so hell-bent on burnin' us you keep getting into bed with the Devil. First Stahl and now The League... it's gonna be the same thing all over again. People are gonna get hurt all over again... just like Opie and Donna."

"HEY! THAT was NOT on ME! Hale yelled. He jabbed a finger toward the door. "Get Out!"

_**XXX**_

"Livestock transport." Opie said matter of factly as he, Clay and Tig walked past a horse trailer at Oswald's Stables. Clay snorted a laugh. Op looked to Tig, "You getting any warm and fuzzy feelings, bro?"

"Nice one, asshole." Tig replied as he limped along.

Op laughed. "Hey, you're the one with it on your record, man."

Tig stopped walking and stood with his hands on his hips. "Hey...THAT was a misunderstanding. Was supposed to be squashed. Fuckin' douche of a lawyer took the money but skipped on filing the papers."

"It's being looked into now, simmer down." Clay chided with a laugh.

"Yeah it is." Tig grumbled. Clay and Op kept walking as Tig stood and stewed. He knew they were wondering about the charge. Without moving, he called after them, "It was a chick! Two legs, motherfucker." He limped to catch up with them.

Clay grinned and laughed, "Jesus Christ."

Elliott Oswald rode up to them, perched on a horoughbred. "What are you doing here?"

Tig was feeling more than a bit bristled by the snide comments from Opie. He glared at Oswald and barked, "Get down off your high horse."

His SAA's snarky comment garnered a laugh out from Clay, "Hey that was pretty good."

After turning over the horse to one of the trainers, Elliott inquired again as to the Sons' appearance at his ranch.

"Unser tells me the county is looking at your land."

"Yeah, they are. But that's my problem."

Clay shook his head, "If it happens in Charming… it's SAMCRO's problem."

Tig's cellphone rang in his pocket. He grabbed it and limped off from the group for some privacy.

Oswald sighed. "Received a letter from the San Joaquin Zoning Commissioner. The County is looking to run a highway through my timber, threatening eminent domain on 200 acres. Jacob Hale is putting together investors for a housing development. Unload it now or lose it for next to nothing. If it goes residential the county can't put a highway in. I have no choice but to sell."

"Don't be signing off on anything until I get back to you. I want to do some digging." Clay advised.

"Ok." Oswald replied with a shrug.

"Why don't you get me that letter." Clay stated in a manner that left no room to interpreted as a request.

Slipping his cell phone back in his pocket, Tig rejoined Clay and Opie. "That was Bobby. Got a call from Luann, she's at Stockton General with Big Otto. They say it's good chance he'll lose that eye." He shook his head at Clay. "This was the AB, man."

Clay was visibly pissed. "We move on this Zoebelle shit. What went down with Otto never shoulda happened."

Opie winced with a _hate to rain on your parade_ look. "Things keep going like they have, Jax is gonna go another way."

"I DON'T GIVE A SHIT!" Clay roared with frustration.

"Chibs may side with Jax… my old man, too."

"The three of us and Bobby." Tig offered. "That's four, need five for a majority vote."

Clay eyed Tig, "Juice is back from Tacoma. You talk to him, make him see how important this vote is. We need to act NOW to protect what we hold dear and love."

Tig eyed him back with complete understanding. He nodded. "We all know Juice is still pining for Parker pussy. Vix is his weak spot, I'll sucker punch him there if need be."

_**XXX**_

"Jackie-Boy, did I hear right about Big Otto?"

Jax nodded solemnly. "Shit's bad, man."

"What's the plan?" The Scotsman asked.

"We know how deep Zoebelle is tied to the AB. All we gotta figure out is what he wants with Charming."

"Well we gotta make some new alliances … protect our boys inside."

"That's my point, man. That's why we gotta look past our short term need to hurt these guys. We unleash hell out here, it could end up costin' our Brothers on the inside."

"Where's Clay land on this?"

In the pocket of his flannel, Jax's phone started to ring. "Hang on." He nodded to Chibs as he fished out his cell. He checked caller ID before flipping it open. "Yeah?"

"_Ten miles from town... i just broke down... spittin' out smoke on the side of the road_" came a sung reply.

Jax pulled the phone away and stared at it as Chibs stared at him. Jax put the phone back to his ear. "You done serenading me?"

Vix sighed."Sorry... _Daughtry _summed my current situation up very nicely. I'm on the service road... ironically enough about 10 miles outside of Charming. Could you send someone with the wrecker?"

"Yeah, somebody'll be out... sit tight."

"These boots are made for walkin' but they ain't been broke in yet." Vix warned. "I'll be here but could ya hurry? My stupid ass drank a Big Gulp on the ride home."

Jax chuckled. "Hit up the tree-line, sweetheart." He hung up the phone still laughing and nodded over at Chibs, "Vix… broke down out on the service road, 'bout ten miles out."

"Jesus Christ, her and that damn car. She needs to upgrade to somethin' built in her lifetime." Chibs remarked

"No shit." Jax sighed and ran his hands over his face.

"Know you're busy, brother. You want me to go rescue our Damsel in Distress?"

"Nah" Jax said with a sigh, "I got this. Why is it I divorced Wendy and I am still stuck dealing with her sisters?"

"Aye, the ties that bind, brother." Chibs mused. "And in the case of the Parkers, make those ties lifelong shackles…'specially with since there's a wee one involved."

_**XXX**_

Clad in a jean mini-skirt, a form-fitting t-shirt with the words _Bruce Lee is my Homeboy_ super-imposed over an image of the martial arts icon and aviator sunglasses, Vix was laying back on the roof of the Charger . Sttuck on the side of the road, on a sunny day she decided to take advantage and catch some rays. She was also smoking steadily and trying to will her mind NOT to conjure up every _slasher _flick that involved a chick broke down on the side of deserted highway. About a half-hour after her call she heard the gravel crunch and propped herself up on her elbows to glance over the raised hood of the car. She slipped off the roof to the ground and shot the driver smile. She hollered to him, "'Bout damn time!"

Climbing out of the wrecker, Jax walked over to the car. "What the hell'd you do to this thing?"

"I ain't got a clue… she ran good this morning. When I left school this afternoon I got  
about five miles and a loud knocking started. I decided to get off the highway, try to nurse her back home, but no such luck. The heavy blue-grey smoke started and when I looked back I was leaving a trail of engine fluid. I gave up and called ya."

Jax stared at the engine of the vintage car. He glanced at Vix. "I think you're sunk, darlin'. I'd bet dollars to doughnuts you AT LEAST gotta blown head, maybe even a cracked motor block with all this smoke."

"I am runnin' a Supercharged 528 cubic inch Hemi V8 in this thing" Vix groaned and kicked the road gravel in anger. "These repairs are gonna be crazy expensive. I've got every dime tied up in my salon and school. MOTHERSHITFUCK!"

"Just calm down, a'ight?" Jax winced. "We'll figure something out."

Vix rolled her eyes, "Yeah right! I was very involved in the original rebuild of this thing. I know what shit costs. And considering the fact that THIS car has been Hollywood's favorite car to wreck for the last forty fuckin' years, shit for 'em is RARE and EXPENSIVE. Look at how much trouble Op had finding a replacement fender."

"Let's just get it back to the shop and officially diagnose it and then we'll start talkin' cost."

Vix sighed and nodded. As Jax set to loading up the car on the back of the tow truck, she was hit with a funny thought, so hilarious in fact that she cracked up.

"Somethin' tickle your funny bone?" Jax asked with a smile.

"I was just thinking how cliché is this fuckin' shit, man." She noticed his questioning look, "Come on, how many times has some _**damsel in auto distress**_ rolled into the TM lot or called up the Tow Line and ended in some hot hookup?'

Jax looked at her like she's crazy. "Come on sweetheart, how many times has auto repair had you hookin' up with strange auto mechanics?"

Vix bit her lip, lookin' like she was trying to recall something. "Um, wait… does borrowing jumper cables constitute _auto repair_?"

"Jesus Christ!" Jax shook his head and decided to end the crazy conversation, "Seriously… you're reading too much _Cosmo Girl_ or romance novels or _Penthouse Forums_ or somethin', darlin'. Crazy shit like that don't happen or every guy on the planet would wanna be an auto mechanic. Cars break down, we fix 'em… end of story."

Vix laughed "That's startling! Ya know if that got out, it'd dash the hopes of hundreds, maybe thousands of chicks out there, right?" She heard her sister's ring tone and held up a finger, "Hold that thought." She focused on her sister. "About damn time, how's Half Sa… um, errr.. Full Sack? How... how's Kipp?"

"He's out of recovery and settled into a room for the night. I'm getting set to head back home now."

"So you're not hotelin' it in San Fran for the night? How's he getting' back home tomorrow? You gonna drive all the fuckin' way back there tomorrow to get him? What's it like two hours one way?"

"Nah, his Mama lives here in town. She offered to bring him back to Charming tomorrow."

Vix gasped. "You've met Mama Sack?"

"Yes I have. She's a very nice lady, so don't call her that. Her name is Marti."

Vix notices that Jax was looking at her questioningly and it dawned on her that he was waiting to hear about the Prospect so she quickly relayed what Jaci had told her.

"Who are you talking to? What's that noise?" Jaci asked.

"I'm talking to Jax. We're on the service road off the 18." Vix looked skyward. "Um, my day aint' going so hot. I've got serious problems with the Charger."

Jaci groaned. "When don't you? That car has been nickel and diming you to death for …"

"Yeah well know it's _hundred dollar bill_-ing me today. Blown engine or some shit, it's gonna be sitting for a while. Anyway, Jax's is here rescuing me. And should I believe him when he states that Tow Calls do NOT lead to random hook ups."

Jaci laughed. "Oh really? Well, that sucks because my back up plan, if I ever became desperate enough and my OCD would allow me to neglect regularly scheduled maintenance, was to make it a point to try to break down somewhere near a garage fulla hot mechanics. Thanks a lot, Jackson!"

Jax watched Vix laugh hysterically and rolled his eyes.

"She thanks you for dashing her dream." Vix explain while staring at her brother in law. "What? Oh, HA!" Vix grinned, "Jaci said you practically poured sugar in her gas tank."

A thought then dawned on Jaci, "Wait.. why are you even discussing hot hook ups with our brother in law? Don't we get enough Southern jokes without the need for incest?"

"EWE! Please! I was asking purely from a hypothetical standpoint." Vix clarified. "Besides Jax may be cute but he ain't my type. And he's all about Smart Doctor Puss-Puss. Probably has her recite the periodic table of elements or name the bones of the skeleton in connective order while they do it."

Jaci snorted into the phone. "Are you trying to make me crash so we are both car-less?"

"You are aware I can hear you?" Jax asked.

Vix nodded and smiled sweetly, "What's the knee bone connected to, Jax?"

Jaci again snorted with laughter on her end of the phone line as she heard Jax in the background on the other end, copping to NOT knowing the answer to Vix's question but advising that his FOOT would be connected to her ASS if she didn't shut the hell up. "Oooh, Jax is testy... you're theory must be true."

Vix giggled, "I know right... H A!" She looked over and saw Jax had the Charger all loaded up. "We ready? Ok J, I'm gonna have him drop me off at Twisted. Can you swing by after close and pick me up? Rach works at Big Daddy's tonight. Love you, chica!"

**XXX**

His time away from Charming had solidified one thing in his mind... _absence didn't NOT make the heart grow fonder... it made your life suck huge donkey balls. _He missed Vix! When he was awake, every little thing seemed to trigger some crazy memory. When he tried to sleep it was even worse. It had gotten to the point he was finding things to do just to stay awake because the minute sleep would find him she'd be there waiting for him in his dreams. Was it possible to be addicted to a person? If so, he was and he was in desperate need of a support group... or a bullet.

The ride back down from Tacoma was a long haul and Juice had just exited the dorm at the SAMCRO club house after having hit the shower to wash off the road dust. He was planning on grabbing a quick beer, a bite to eat and a few zzz's, when Jax walked through the door.

"Welcome back." Jax said. "Tacoma help you straighten your head out?"

"Lil' bit."

Jax smirked, he could tell the dude was dying to ask about HER. "She's doin' ok... well aside from blowing her car engine. Just towed it in off the 18, dropped her off at the salon."

Juice shrugged. "Why you tellin' me this shit?" He quickly changed the subject. "How's Otto? Chibs told me he got jumped."

"Nearly blind..Deft change of subject by the way, thought you said you got your head together."

"What makes you think it isn't? You guys and your advice is like some kind of fucked up Magic 8-ball." Juice ranted. "Shake it once and I am told to _rush in where fools and anybody with an ounce of intelligence fear to go_. Shake it again and I'm advised to _give it some distance and time and let the chips fall where they may. _Another shake _you're killin my buzz, man... ask again later._"

Jax frowned. "Have you looked around at the people you're trying to gleam advice from? Do any of us look like we wrote the book on Relationship How To?" Jax snorted. "Please... half of us are divorced and the slow learners among us, more than once. Ones that aren't probably wish they were from time to time or have very specific reasons for never going there in the first place. You gotta stop following what everyone else thinks is right and do what YOU think is right."

"What's the retaliation?" Juice asked instead, apparently deciding to ignore The Wit and Wisdom of Jax Teller.

Jax sighed. "That's a problem … not enough intel. We strike back now, we could be playing right in to their hands."

"Zoebelle is squeaky clean... not even a parking ticket." Juice warned. "I'm gonna have to do some street level recon to find somethin'."

"Find what you can, we go to the table at 8 o'clock."

Juice nodded and watched the VP walk out of the club house.

_**XXX**_

In the office at Cara Cara, his next stop on the campaign for votes, Jax took a drag off his cigarette and stared over at Bobby. "This shit it ain't about me and Clay... it's about survival."

"Everybody's hurting already, brother." Bobby stopped pacing and looked at the kid. "And this shit between you and Clay? It doesn't happen in a vacuum. Now, you want my support? You gotta tell me what the hell is goin' on."

Jax sighed and stared at his friend. "I can't tell you." Bobby stared back in disbelief.

Behind them, the door to the office opened up and Piney walked inside. "Hey." He offered as he headed for the mini-fridge.

"You old enough to watch this shit, Piney?" Jax teased.

"I hired him." Bobby advised with a chuckle.

"Security" Piney informed. "Makes the girls feel safe."

"Yeah?" Jax questioned with a smirk and a chuckle."Ya, dirty old bastard."

Piney chuckled "I'm tryin'."

His expression turned more serous and Jax told Piney, "I need you at the table tonight."

"Well, then I'll be there won't I?"

Jax nodded his thanks and then glanced over at Bobby, "Think about what I said." He headed for the door.

"How's Tara doin'?"

Jax turned and shot a confused look at Piney. "Well, I heard that Gemma clocked her and broke her nose or somethin'."

"Jesus Christ!" Jax muttered and stormed out of the door.

_**XXX**_

St Thomas Hospital's parking lot was emptying as the seven to three staff left from their shifts. Jax pulled his bike into a vacant spot and started for the building. He found Tara at a Nurses' Station. She saw him and walked a few feet away with him. He eyed her patched up nose and the start of _raccoon eyes. _ "My mom did that?"

"We were on the street... I came up behind her, must have startled her."

He studied her injuries closer. "That's a solid shot to the face."

'It was an accident." Tara insisted.

"You know this total disclosure thing works both ways." Jax reminded.

"I know." She glanced back over at the Nurses' Station where the bitchy hospital administrator was loitering. "I gotta get back to work."

Down on the main level of the hospital Gemma beat a hasty retreat out of the shrink's office. _Am I Dr. Knowles' friend? Yeah right! Not on your life. _She turned the corner at the end of the hall and ran smack dab into Jax.

He stares at her incredulously "What the hell is it with you and bustin' chicks' noses?"

"This one was an accident... I promise!"

"What are you doin' here?"

Gemma smirked. "Same thing you are, I got MAD LOVE for Tara." She took her son's arm. "Come on, get me the hell outta here."

_**XXX**_

Chief Unser was enjoying a shave at Floyd's Barber Shop when Clay, Tig and Opie walked in.

"You recognize any of the names on that letter?" Clay inquired as he handed the Sheriff a copy of Oswald's letter regarding the sale of his land.

"Nah, county officials turn over all the time." Unser replied. "I can float it around the county clerk's office, see if any of the names jump out."

"Well, make sure you keep it clear of your deputy. Zoebelle could be pulling strings on both the Hale Brothers."

"Conspiracy Theory?" Unser remarked. "Soundin' a little paranoid."

"Better safe than stupid." Clay replied.

Opie stood staring outside. "Speaking of stupid." He nodded towards where Weston and two other League members were crossing the street looking determined.

Tig tossed down the box of Men's hair color he was checking out and followed his brothers outside.

_**XXX**_

From her seat at the patio table, Vix blew a stream of smoke into the air and sighed. _Another day in paradise...NOT. _She cocked her head as Jaci drove up, parked her Mustang and made her way to the salon's courtyard. She waved her pack of cigarettes in the air. "Smoke break...want one?"

"Naw...trying to drop all my bad habits I've made lately." Jaci replied. "So...no car, huh?"

"She's on life support but I probably need to pull the plug...save up some serious cash and resuscitate her later. So says Dr. Jax."

Jaci nodded then shrugged. "Eh...we'll think of something."

"Always do, don't we?" Vix retorted with a smile. They were just starting to make small talk about their respective days when Rachel poked her head outside.

"Uh, you guys are gonna wanna see this!" Rachel grinned. "Think we're about to having ourselves a street brawl."

The Parkers frowned with confusion but took off through the salon in a rush. They stepped out of the front door of the salon just in time to see Opie squaring off with Weston in the middle of the street.

"What's the scoop?" Jaci asked as she glanced over to Rachel.

"Well, Clay, Opie and Tig had been in Floyd's. The cigar psycho guy and his goons started walking across the street, the SAMCRO guys came out, Clay held Tig back and there ya have it."

"He held Tig back?" Vix asked with a frown. "Oh wait, Right Hand Man is a little gimpy. Gonna let the young buck raise the ruckus."

Jaci nodded. "Looks that way." Opie looked more than willingly to throw down with Weston. Hell these days, Op looked ready to thrown down with anyone. He hardly ever cracked a smile, always had a frown and a pensive look on his face. Losing Donna seemed to still have a tight grip on him, he surely had tons of aggression to misplace. But Jaci couldn't say she minded if he misplaced that violence all over Weston, creepy fucker probably needed an ass beating.

The girls were all set to watch a good fight when they heard a bike roaring down the street. They turned to see Jax with Gemma of all people on the back of his bike, quickly approaching. Jax jerked the bike to a stop and Gemma climbed off with him zooming off a second later. Gemma spotted the girls in front of Twisted and hustled over to stand by them.

"Welcome to Ring Side." Vix said with a smile of greeting toward Gemma. The girls looked amused by the impending fight, Gemma looked worried. But then again, the girls weren't privy to the brutal intentions of LOAN like she was.

It appeared as though Jax was going to play peacemaker as he rode his bike in between Opie and Weston and started to walk Opie backwards. But a moment later Weston pushed Jax's bike over and any hope of peace shattered as the bike slammed against the street.

"Oh shit." Jaci said quietly.

Her sentiment was dead on because as soon as chrome hit pavement, Jax took a shot at Weston and the fight was on. Every Son grabbed an opponent and the punches started flying. The girls eyed the action with rapt attention, Vix and Rachel were smiling and oohing and awing as every hit landed. Unser wandered out of Floyd's with shaving cream still on one side of his face. He shook his head at the melee and started to make a call.

Jaci watched as Tig grabbed his guy and flung him up against Unser's police cruiser. He was a bit slower than usual and she winced as she glanced at Gemma and announced, "Asshole pops those damn stitches in his leg, he's on his own."

"Awwww, no more Nursemaid Jaci?" Vix teased. Jaci shoved playfully at her sister.

Moments later, a few police cruisers arrived, led by Hale. The officers waded in between the fighting men, pulled them apart and held them all while looking at Chief Unser for direction. The older man looked apologetically at Clay as he waved his officers on, "Take 'em all in."

As the extra officers cuffed all the parties involved, Tig finally noticed that there was quite an audience gathered in front of Twisted Scissors. He sneered at the girls and locked eyes with Jaci in particular. She shook her head with a slight smile playing at her lips, _Idiot. _He smirked widely at her and ducked his head as he was thrown in the back of the police cruiser.

Weston followed Tig's gaze and saw the Parker bitches and their new dyke friend were laughing at him. The little bastard dog that Vix was holding let out a bark which only made the girls laugh more. Gemma stood to the side of the girls and stared at Weston with hatred and caution. He glared back at them and wanted desperately to run across the street, snap the dog's neck and beat the shit out of its owner.

As Weston was shoved into a cruiser, Vix let out a laugh. "Well that was fun!"

"Shit, here comes Dudley damn Do-Right." Gemma breathed as Hale nodded at the women and crossed the street, coming toward them. "Remember...we didn't see shit, girls."

"Well, what the hell happened?" Hale asked then raised his eyebrows.

The women exchanged fake confused glances and sounded off their innocence. Rachel shrugged, "I didn't see anything."

"Musta blinked." Vix added.

Hale looked to Jaci who winced. "Sun was in my eyes."

"What about you?" Hale asked as he stared down Gemma.

"Sorry...I was tying my shoe." Gemma quipped. Hale looked down to her feet and rolled his eyes as he saw that she was wearing boots...with no laces.

Hale shook his head and walked back across the street without a word.

Jaci looked over at Gemma. "You gonna have to bail them out?"

"No way Wayne will hold them." Gemma laughed and shook her head. "They'll be calling later for a pickup. Just give me a lift to the garage and I'll take care of it."

"Sure thing." Jaci replied and led the way back inside the salon. She yelled at Vix as she left, "Hey, sis...holler when you're ready to leave tonight, I'll drop by and get ya."

_**XXX**_

Jaci and Gemma loaded up in the Mustang and headed toward Teller Morrow. They made small talk about the Prospect, his surgery and his mama as Jaci drove. "Right before I left the VA Med Center, Kipp had roused a bit. He looked over at his Mama and me and muttered something about Southern Comfort and passed back out."

Gemma shook her head, "Not sure they stock that at the VA." She casted a sideways glance at the 'Bama princess. "Then again, I'm not sure he was talkin' about the drink."

They pulled into the parking lot but Gemma didn't make a move to get out. Jaci sighed, "What a day...and it's not even close to being over."

Gemma smirked and thought, _You don't know the half of it. _She thought back to the morning to when she had elbowed Tara in the face after spotting the woman that had set up her rape. _Damnit, I have to pull my shit together. _It would just be a matter of time before Jaci saw Tara's nose. She figured she would save the good doctor from having to lie for her. "Have you talked to Tara today?" Jaci shook her head. "Well, just a heads up...we were in town together this morning. She spooked me and I accidentally elbowed her in the nose...sorta broke it."

Jaci raised her eyebrows and stared at Gemma. The older woman was obviously apologetic but seemed...off. Gemma looked nervous and that was an emotion not often seen on the SAMCRO matriarch. Jaci wasn't sure what to say so she cracked a joke, hoping to make Gemma feel better. "So...you're saying I should wear a cow bell around you? Give you fair warning of my presence?"

"Smartass." Gemma chided but smiled slightly. She was grateful that Jaci hadn't grilled her about the incident, she was embarrassed about it enough. She quickly changed the subject. "So that fight was something, mmm?"

"Yeah. You notice who Tig grabbed?" Jaci asked and a worried look passed over her face. "That Hoover guy...he sure is hanging around those LOAN guys a lot. He was with them when they showed up back at Bobby's party. I guess the Nords have joined retard forces?"

"Looks that way." Gemma eyed Jaci closer and a slight wave of panic bloomed inside of her. Clay had vaguely mentioned that a couple of Nords had jumped Jaci in the stairwell of the hospital back when Vix was sick. Tig and Jaci's cousin had beaten them down but Gemma suddenly wandered what kind of damage had been done to the girl. She prayed it wasn't anything like what she had suffered at the hands of Weston. Jaci was a strong girl, a proud girl...if something bad had happened she would have followed the same path Gemma was taking and would have kept her mouth shut. She swallowed hard. "When you got jumped in that stairwell, what'd they do to you?"

Jaci froze. She hadn't know that Gemma knew about that little incident. She glanced at Gemma and noticed the hard serious look on the woman's face. Jaci stared down at her steering wheel as she answered, a little embarrassed that she had allowed herself to get jumped. "Um...knocked me around a bit...nearly choked me to death."

"But that was it? Nothing ELSE happened?" Gemma prodded, half dreading the answer but on some selfish level she hoped for someone to know exactly what she had been through, to be able to TELL someone who would fully understand her pain. Tara was right, she couldn't hold her secret in much longer, it was eating away at her and manifesting itself in some dangerous ways.

Jaci caught the emphasis on ELSE and understood what Gemma was hinting at. "Oh...NO. They skipped all that and went straight for the kill. Wasn't a lot time." Jaci explained and then frowned at Gemma. "Why do you ask that?"

"Oh...um just wanted to make sure." Gemma shrugged.

"Well I guess if you know about the stairwell fun, you know WHY that happened?"

"There isn't a lot I don't know about." Gemma admitted then nodded, "Justin Darby. That's a heavy load for a girl like you to handle."

"Yeah...I don't handle guilt as well as I'd like to. I keep my mouth shut but it still stings. " Jaci admitted. She got quiet and bit at her lip then finally ventured, "Wanna hear something funny...or sad...maybe stupid I guess? That whole thing...it was total self defense, well defense of Vix. But I STILL think about Justin every now and then, feel BAD for what I did, second guess it. I even feel sorry for that little bastard sometimes, I mean he look what he had for family. No wonder he turned out to be a fuck up."

That statement hit Gemma like a ton of bricks to the head. She flashed back to weeks earlier when she had secretly held a gun on Weston in his own work yard and tried to work up the courage to kill him. She thought she had been ready but then Weston had talked to his son so lovingly on the phone and her resolve had disintegrated.

Jaci couldn't shake that feeling that something BIG was hanging in the air. Time seemed to just STOP. "Are you ok, Gemma? I mean is there something...?"

"I'm fine." Gemma snipped and waved her hand in the air as she suddenly popped open the passenger side door. She quickly exited and shut the door behind her, scared at how close she had come to telling Jaci the truth. _Get your shit together, Gemma! _She started to just walk away from the car but her maternal instincts kicked in hard. Weston and his men had hurt her and she would just have to carry that load, but she wouldn't be able to handle the guilt if they hurt someone else.

Gemma turned and stuck her head back through the passenger side window, "Hey...you girls stay away from that Zoebelle guy and his little minions ok?"Jaci nodded but Gemma needed to drive her point home, "I'm serious, Jaci. They're dangerous...steer clear of them and don't let Vix run her mouth to them. They come around, you just walk away. Call Jax if they give you any trouble. Promise me."

Jaci was a little weirded out by the whole conversation of the last few minutes but nodded again. This was obviously important to Gemma. "Ok...I promise. Hey...are you ok?"

"I'm fine, baby...I being overprotective, paranoid, whatever. I just worry about my flock." Gemma put on a big fake smile.

"Oooh, I'm still in the _flock _huh?" Jaci grinned.

"Get out of here you little shit." Gemma retorted and slapped her hand on the door. "Thanks for the ride."

Jaci smiled as she shifted the car into reverse, "Anytime, mama bird." 


	12. Chapter 102 Retributions

**Walk Away from the Son****  
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SoA  
Chapter 10 RUNAWAY TRAIN **

**RUNAWAY TRAIN: Part 2 – Retributions**

_**Blind boys and gamblers, they invented The Blues.  
We'll pay up in blood, when this marker comes due.  
But what are the choices for those who remain…  
The sign of The Cross… on a Runaway Train.**_

_**XXX**_

"See you later, baby." Rachel cood into the phone. She glanced over at Vix, who was doing a good job of ignoring her by cramming her mouth with an energy bar.

"That probably doesn't have much in the way of fiber." Rachel stated, hanging up the phone. She and Jaci had been worrying a lot about Vix lately, her diet one of many things. "Have you eaten lunch? What did you eat for breakfast?"

Vix eyed her friend. "You sound like Mama Rox, or my sister, knock it off. Besides, I thought we had an agreement, you don't question my eating habits and I let the _kissy-kissy-mawah-mawah shit _ with Areola slide."

Rachel laughed and rolled her eyes. "Her name is **Aurora** and I DO NOT make _kissy-mawah-mawah _."

"Yes you do! And for your information, this thing does so have fiber… it's in the caramelized peanuts." Vix cocked her head. "Aurora, hmmm? She sounds like a Disney Princess."

Rachel snorted. "Lucky for me she doesn't act like one."

The salon phone rang and Vix reached over and grabbed up the receiver. "Twisted Scissors."

"Is Ms. Parker available?" Inquired a professional sounding female voice.

"You got her? How can I help you?"

"This is Mrs. Tinsman at the Elementary school. You're on a list of contacts for the Winston children. No one has picked them this afternoon, school was dismissed two and a half hours ago. We tried to contact their father but he did not answer."

_Well he wouldn't… since his ass is sitting in a holding cell down at the police station. _ Vix thought to herself. "It's alright, I'll be right there." Vix breathed into the phone before hanging up. "I need to borrow your car, you mind?"

"Nah, what's up?"

"Fuckin' Mary… flaked on picking up Ellie and Kenny." Vix grabbed the keys Rachel extended in her direction. "Thanks, chica."

On her way out the door she pulled out her cell phone, speed dialed a contact. She got voice mail, didn't that just figure. "Mary! It's Vix! I know Highballs and Video Poker at the VFW are _relaxing _but… did you forget something or some ONES rather? The kids are with me at Twisted… CALL ME the MINUTE you get this message."

_**XXX**_

After dropping Gemma off at TM to stand by for jail pickup, Jaci had some time to kill before she had to head back to town to fetch Vix after work. At Parker Place, she wandered outside and sat down on the wicker sofa. Running her hand over the cushion, she thought back to all the memories that had been made on the back deck, good and bad. She was a little surprised to find that memories didn't sting like they used to. Jaci sighed and propped her feet up on the fire pit. Pulling out her cell phone, she hit the number 3 speed dial.

Down in 'Bama Aunt Roxy answered on the second ring. "Hey, hey, baby girl."

"Hey, Mama Rox." Jaci replied with a smile in her voice. "How ya doin?"

"Doing great now. And to what do I owe this random pleasure?"

"Ehh...spent the day with a few other people's mamas...thought I would call mine and see how things were back home."

They spent a few minutes rehashing the goings on of Charming and Bama. Jaci recounted her day with Kipp and Marti, gave her a detailed run down of everything cute thing Abel had done recently and dodged inquiries about her love life or lack thereof.

"Well if you won't expound about YOUR love life, how about dishing on your sister's? How is Vix doing with the whole Juice...thing?" Roxy inquired.

Jaci blew out a sigh. "She's...um...being weird, very un-Vix. Hell, I'd go as far to say that she's acting like ME."

"Say what?"

"Well you know how she usually is...one thing ends and she's got a replacement lined up with the speed and accuracy of a guided missile."

Roxy laughed slightly. "That girl ain't never been one for down time."

"Exactly." Jaci agreed. _Not one for downtime, leave it to a Southern Mama to find a nice way to say her daughter is a bit of a slut_. "I think this thing with Juice was the real deal and now that she's gotten the rug pulled out from under her, she's sorta reeling. She's taking it slow; works at Twisted – which is doing remarkably well in the short time it's been open by the way. She has her school stuff, which again is going great." She added to herself… _if you overlook the fact that her Ex beat the living piss outta her professor in a fit of unfounded jealousy. _"And then she comes home. She's constantly doing for the SAMCRO kiddos and she's taken to pouring WAY too much attention and love on this new damn puppy but that's IT. She's seemin' to be toeing some self-mandated line, don't want to do anything _bad _ to get back to Juice, which is in and of itself hard to wrap my head around. I mean it's not a secret he seems to have moved on." Clarifying in her mind _Porn Actresses and Crow Eaters such as they are. _ Jaci sighed again, "I don't know, Mama, she doesn't want to go out, WON'T go out, REFUSES unless Rach or me drag her some place or other and even then she balks. Honestly, she's acting like me with the whole Dean breakup."

"Damn."

"I know."

Roxy thought over the ramifications of Vix being introspective and responsible and frowned. "J, I hate to say this...but I think I'd feel better if she was out whoring around a little bit. Fall off the horse and get back on kinda thing." Roxy snorted a humorless laugh. "Can't believe I'd see the day when I'm straddling the fence on Vix being good. I'm stuck between being relieved and being worried. Good lord, what kind of parent am I?

"I know what ya mean. I've waited for her to grown up FOREVER and now I just want to poke her with a stick and tell her to go be Crazy Ass Vix again." Jaci mused.

_**XXX**_

At the Charming PD station, Unser had Hale cornered.

"Made Gemma a promise… to keep the dirty secret, same promise you just made." Catching the Deputy Chief's uncertain look, Unser explained, "I need you to know who Zoebelle IS… so YOU can make your OWN decision about what's BEST for Charming."

Hale stood up, thinking of the members of SAMCRO currently spending time in his holding cell along with the three members of LOAN that had also been involved in the street brawl. "I'm gonna cut them loose with a warning."

"Good." Unser nodded.. "We can't afford to feed 'em dinner anyway." Unser nodded at Hale. "Hey, you familiar with anyone on the San Joaquin Zoning Commission? The County is looking into Elliott Oswald's land…. threatening eminent domain." He handed over the copy of the letter he'd gotten from Clay Morrow.

Hale took a look at the letter and then walked out of the office and down the maze of hallways to the holding cells. He proceeded to let the Sons and the others go, advising them that any more altercations would have them doing 30 days for disturbing the peace. He asked Clay and Jax for a word in private and gives the them the DVD showing members of their club torching Darby's Meth Lab. He also told them about a real estate scheme his older brother, Jacob, and a buddy were involved in a few years back. Apparently now, Jake's buddy had a new job – SanJaw Zoning Commissioner.

Clay smirked with a shake of his head, "There's no highway?"

"Doubt it."

"Why are you giving us this?" Jax questioned.

"Because I'm not on anybody's payroll." Hale advised matter-of-factly.

_**XXX**_

"I'll see you six weeks, Sonya. Bye now!" Vix says with a smile as her latest patron exited the salon.

"What do you call a cheese that don't belong to you?" Kenny asked at random.

The petite blonde seated in the pedicure chair shrugged. "I dunno, what?"

"Nacho cheese." He replied with a huge grin. "Get it? Not-Yo…Nacho."

The girl laughed, "I get it… cute."

"I have another one… wanna hear it?"

"I think you've entertained Aurora enough for one day, Kenny." Vix interjected. "Have you finished your homework?" The look on the kid's face said it all. "Your sister is upstairs working on her project. You go sit at the front desk and do your math."

"One more joke! Please, Vix!" Kenny pleaded.

She rolled her eyes and looked apologetically at Aurora who laughed. "Fine one more.. that is it! Hit us with it, Mac Daddy."

He held up the book _1001 Jokes and Riddles_, "Mmmm, why'd the cookie go to the doctor?" He eyed the girls, waiting. They both shrugged. "Because he was feeling crummy!"

"Oh good lord." Vix laughed and then pointed at the desk. "Home work, now!" She glanced over at Rachel's _dish-du-jour. _ "Thanks for taking that in your stride."

The chick shrugged. "No problem... cute kid."

Vix laughed, "Yeah he is… but aren't all kids? I am sure someone said that about Charles Manson or Lee Harvey Oswald at one point or another."

"You may be onto something there with Kenny."

Vix turned around and looked at Ellie who was standing on the bottom step, "No! Baby Girl, I am not… I wasn't insinuating anything bad about your brother, sweetie. I was just meanin' ….you can't judge things by how they look. It's the stuff underneath that matters more."

Ellie shrugged, "Well, he likes to melt the faces off his GI Joes with the sun and a magnifying glass. I'm not sure that paints a picture of good mental health."

"It's a boy thing, sweetie. I've got two little brothers and they did the same thing." Aurora stated.

Vix eyed the woman. "That is not exclusively a boy thing. I played with Tonka trucks and in mud puddles and dissected every Barbie doll I was ever given. Me and my sister preferred karate to dance class and num-chuck over bangle bracelets."

"And yet here you are without a trace of Lesbianic tendency." Rachel said with a laugh as she finishing straightening up her station after a busy day. Vix rolled her eyes.

"Um, do you think this is really a chat to have in front of the little ones?" Aurora mentioned.

"This ain't nothin.'" Ellie stated as she plopped down in the other pedicure chair and flipped on the massage function. "This girl in my class, Meredith, her parents got divorced and her dad told her mom that she turned him off women. Thanks to her he was now gay… and not just a little gay, a whole lot gay. Full on _George Michaels_ _gay, _whoever that is."

While Aurora sat staring at the girl in shock, Vix and Rachel exchanged glances and cracked up.

"Ok, I am outty. My shift at Big Daddy's starts in an hour and a half." Rachel declared. "You ready, A?"

"Yeah… let me just hit the ladies room and then I'll be all set."

Vix waited until the chick disappeared into the rest room and she eyed her best friend. "Have fun with her, Rach… but I am not sure _Ms. Dooney & Burke_ is gonna pan out."

"Doubt it." She replied with a grin, "I'll take what I can get… don't wait up."

"GRAMMA!" Kenny announced as Mary walks in the front door of the salon.

_**XXX**_

Roxy Parker strolled into the offices at Parker & Sons Construction. Her arms were laden with several bags. She deposited them on the desk inside the door and headed in the direction of the small corner office. "Knock… Knock." She said with a smile, leaning up against the door frame.

BB Parker looked up from a stack of papers. His normally neat and tidy office looked like a twister had ripped through it. "Hey, baby." He smiled at seeing his wife. "Whatcha doin' down here? I thought tonight was that dice game with your girlfriends?"

"Mohammad couldn't come to the mountain … so I brought the mountain to him. Well, technically just meat loaf, mashed sweet potatoes, lima beans and pecan pie." She smiled. "And my Bunco game.. that's tomorrow night."

BB sat back in his chair and ran his hands over his face wearily. "Christ.. I don't know what fuckin' day of the week it is anymore."

"For the record it's Wednesday. You need to hire another office assistant, baby. You want me to run an ad? Interview some folks?"

"No! No I don't!" BB answered almost adamantly. "You recall what happened the last time?"

"I do. What was wrong with Lorlyn?"

"What was wrong? Baby… she laughed out loud at the plumbing contractor when he used the phrase, _Laying Pipe. _And burst into giggles every time he'd come around. Now, I get the double meaning but we are supposed to be professionals." BB explained. "And well Trace caught her tokin' in the porta-john at lunch time.. twice."

Roxy scoffed, "Well you could have given her another shot. I mean the boys seemed pleased with her while she was here."

"Of course they were… her rack coulda been used as a floatation device in the event of a emergency airplane landing over water."

"Well at least she was willing to give you boys a chance. I mean the one before her, what was her name… Brenda?"

"Beverly."

"Yes. Beverly. Ya'll had her quitting in under an hour."

BB smiled. "Forty two minutes and thirty five seconds, new company record. Came in my office lookin' a shade usually reserved for snowmen, said she couldn't work here. Motor was frightening her right out of her _Easy Spirit_ shoes." After a quick pause to chuckle over the memory, he held up his finger and added, "But in our defense, that was the day Motor got his tooth pulled so he was a bit grouchy. "

Roxy sighed and sat down heavily in the chair on the opposite side of the desk. "Tell me how I can help."

"Make me a clone of Jaci." BB quipped.

Roxy inhaled sharply, "Awww, Billy. Baby you miss 'em... you miss our girls."

"Of course I do.."

"You want 'em to come home!" She exclaimed. " know you think my _Mama-Genes_ are in overdrive, but I just can't help worryin'. They are all that way away from us, from people that care 'bout 'em." She caught BB's look, "Oh don't you go preachin' to the choir 'bout club love, I get that. But our girls need their family...their blood."

BB nodded, "What's got you worried this time?"

She sighed, "I had a long chat with J today. We're worried 'bout Vix. I think Juice has gone and damaged my baby."

"Why, what the retard do now?"

"Nothing… that's the problem. This whole mess is all his doin' and he ain't doin' a damn thing to fix it. Acordin' to J, Vix ain't even lookin' to move on. Billy… Jaci danced around usin' the word PINING.. but it sounds a lot like that." Roxy frowned at her husband, who looked amused. "Why aren't you worried? This is very un-natural. Apparently Vix is kinda patterning herself after Jaci and.. .?"

"Well, praise damn Jesus!" BB exclaimed.

"Don't blasphemy, Billy Bob Parker."

BB chuckled, "Come on, girl- there are a hellva lot worse people for Vix to mimic than J."

"That may be true, IF she wasn't mirror-imagin' J at rock bottom. I am not jokin', babe. I am worried.. Why aren't you worried?"

"Because I ain't. What you are callin' damage, others may look on as a good thing. YOU need to remember, baby- you are not seein' all sides."

Roxy cocked an eyebrow. "Whatdya know? You heard somethin' that I ain't?"

BB shook his head. "I was talkin' in general, baby. No one knows everydamnthing 'bout anydamnthing. And this situation with Vix, there are only two ways it can go. Either they eventually work their shit out or they don't. But I'd hold off settin' Vix up on the s_pinster shelf_ just yet cause I am thinkin' that this whole lack of action on her part is due to HER getting the tables turned." He tapped his head. "Memory serves… she was always the one held the reigns down here. Relationship shit started and ended by Vix's shot callin.'"

He watched his wife mull over all of that for a bit then added. "You're baby girl will survive, honey. Now... I think that meatloaf and pie are callin' my name."

_**XXX**_

"And with that my dear...we call it a day!" Vix announced dramatically as she tossed the dustpan of hair into the trash. She put the final touches on tidying up her workstation and made sure the rest of the salon was spic and span and ready to go for tomorrow's workday.

"Bout time." Jaci teased. She shut the salon's laptop and shoved it into the carrying bag. "I can look over all this stuff at home on the couch."

"Sounds like a plan. Hey, we got anything in the fridge at home? I'm freakin' starvin'." Vix asked and then snapped her fingers and called out, "Come on, Spawn, let's hit the road, buddy."

Jaci pursed her lips and did a mental review of the fridge at Parker Place, not empty but didn't have anything she wanted to eat. She was pretty damn hungry too, after Rosen had bailed on lunch, she hadn't really felt like eating but she surely did now. She checked her watch. "Let's just swing by Bergen's and grab something, my treat. We've got almost an hour till they close."

"Don't have to ask me twice." Vix replied with a grin and headed toward the front door. Jaci followed behind, laughing at Spawn who was scrambling to catch up to Vix.

"Damn, pup's ready to go." Jaci said with a laugh.

"He wants onion rings...he told me." Vix replied as she held the front door open for her pup and her sister. "What? Don't give me that look, he DID!"

_**XXX**_

Weston watched the Parker sisters kill the interior lights and then exit the salon through the front door. They were laughing and smiling and seemed to be teasing each other as the little bastard dog ran around their feet playfully. _Laugh_ _now, bitches. Those smiles will be wiped off your faces soon enough._

The older sister clicked her car remote and opened the driver side door her black Mustang which was parked a few spaces down from the salon. She pulled the laptop bag strap from off her shoulder and placed the bag on the driver's seat then slammed the door shut and with a beep, locked the car. She jogged a few steps to catch up with her younger sister and the dog and the trio headed down the sidewalk. _Where the fuck are they going? Go HOME already, fuckers. _Weston gave them a few moments head start and then stepped further out onto the sidewalk across the street. He craned his neck and watched the happy little crew walking toward the end of the street.

"Where are they going?" Hoover asked from beside Weston.

"Fuck if I know." Weston spat back but a few moments later, the girls made their destination clear. "They're fuckin' eating dinner."

"Shit." Hoover breathed. "What do we do? Go for it or wait?"

Weston glared at the vacant street. "Fuck it...let's go. This won't take long. Get your shit together, grab your buddy and meet me at the back."

_**XXX**_

Across town in the SAMCRO Chapel, the Sons were all present and accounted for and seated around the table for the all important vote. From his President's chair, Clay spoke. "It's been a shit year. I know we were laying low, trying to shake the ATF stink off. I would NEVER put a member of this club at risk but we underestimated Zoebelle, the League's reach..."

_**XXX**_

Hoover took off back through the cigar shop while Weston strolled down the sidewalk for a long ways and then cut across the street. He finally reached the back courtyard of the salon and stood like a sentry at its entrance. He watched as Hoover backed his truck up an alley that was adjacent to the courtyard, killed the headlights and quietly stepped out of the truck.

_**XXX**_

Clay looked at each member's face, trying to gauge if his message was hitting home before he continued presenting his case for swift action. "And now he hurts a brother. If we don't act now, it could be taken as a sign of weakness… they will do it again. We've got an obligation to this club, this town to crush this threat. Retaliation must be harsh and immediate. It's what we do… it's what we've always done."

_**XXX**_

Bergen's Cafe was not a hot bed of activity at 8:15pm. There were a few diners seated inside, mostly getting an after dinner desert. Jaci and Vix grabbed a table at the outside dining area. They said hi to a few familiar faces and smiled as some of the other patrons goofed around with Spawn.

Vix tied Spawn's leash to the wrought iron chair as they settled in and started to peruse the menus. She closed hers three seconds later. "Don't even have to look at this thing. I know what I'm getting."

The waitress arrived and Vix put in her order for a cheeseburger, onion rings and a Coke. Jaci winced at her sister's order...but it was a wince of envy. She would love to just say ditto and order the same fat and calorie extravaganza but since the high blood pressure diagnosis, she was trying to cut down on the fatty meals she ate. Jaci blew out a sigh. "I'll have the Greek Salad and a water...with lemon."

"Ooh, lemon! Really? You rebel you!" Vix teased. "First no alcohol and now salad and water? What's with the hippie eating habits?"

Jaci smirked at her younger sister. _If you knew how close I was to a STROKE you wouldn't be talking so much shit to me. _But there was no way she was dumping that knowledge on Vix anytime soon, girl had too much to worry about already. She shrugged and chided, "No one needs a burger and rings this late at night."

"I do." Vix fired back with a grin. Spawn let out a happy bark from his perch at her feet. Vix laughed and rubbed the top of his head. "And little man here does too!"

Jaci rolled her eyes. "You and that dog are getting WAY too friendly."

"Jealous?"

"Oh very much so." Jaci replied with deep sarcasm. The girls chatted and enjoyed the mild night. They started a top ten list for replacement names for Half Sack as they waited for their food. It felt good to hang out and just laugh. Their orders arrived and the girls tore into their meals. Vix ate half an onion ring and tossed the remaining half down to Spawn.

"Vix, do NOT get that dog started on people food. He'll be a beggar."

"Oh lighten up!" Vix chided as her phone rang. She cocked an eyebrow at the called id and answered. "Hello?"

Mary Winston's voice sprang to life on the other end of the phone. She sounded a bit...stressed. "Vix? Do you know if Ellie left her back pack at your place? She can't find it anywhere and she has that project due tomorrow. She's in melt down mode and we've looked everywhere in this house!"

Vix sighed and restrained herself from telling Mary to take a pill. "Um, yeah, it's probably at my place then. She flipped the phone away from her lips and asked her sister, "You see a backpack at the salon?" Jaci shrugged. Vix went back to talking to Mary. "I'll take a look. You want Jaci and me to drop it off on our way home?"

"You live in the opposite direction of here." Mary reminded. "Ellie isn't gonna relax til she finds it. Are you still there? I can run back over..."

Vix nodded. "I'll meet you there in a few minutes, we're just up the street at Bergen's."

_**XXX**_

The floor was now open for Jax to plead his case against immediate action. He looked at Clay. "I agree with everything you're saying." He looked around the table at his brothers-in-arms. "We underestimated Zoebelle, gotta protect our club... our town. Retaliation is indisputable. But if we do it now, we're doing it HALF BLIND." Jax warned. "These guys are not gangsters. They're monied, smart and connected, on both sides of the law. They wanted us to blow up Darby's meth lab." He laid the DVD on the table. "That us doin' it… caught on security camera. Op's face plain as day. Otto getting jumped was bait Zoebelle knew we'd take. But out here, he's not using muscle… he's using the law. He expects us to retaliate. He wants it .. and he's ready for it."

_**XXX**_

Weston took a quick glance in all directions to make sure they were alone and then let out a low whistle. Hoover stepped to the side of the truck and lifted out a heavy wooden crate and came walking toward the courtyard.

"Gimpy...you going to be able to keep up?" Weston teased as the third member of the wrecking crew slowly crossed the street alongside Hoover.

"I'll be fine." Jenkins hissed as he limped past Weston and gave the man a cold glare.

A slight figure appeared beside him.. Weston looked over as a scrap of paper was held in his direction. "The alarm code?"

Polly Zoebelle nodded with a smile. "It was almost criminal how easy it was breaking into an security company database."

_**XXX**_

Jax looked from one member to the next in a last ditch campaign effort. " I love Otto. I wanna give him his eye back… but not at the expense of my club. We gotta wait… due diligence… learn."

_**XXX**_

Vix ended the call and took another bite of her burger. She stood up as she chewed and took a big gulp of soda. "Gotta run back to the shop. Ellie needs her book bag. Can you keep an eye on Spawn?" Jaci nodded and Vix headed for the exit gate. She was on the sidewalk when she hollered back to Jaci. "Hey! Keep your hands off my rings! I know you want em!"

Jaci waved her off but stared at the stack of onion rings. She smiled and snagged one when her sister was out of sight. She sighed, enjoying the greasy goodness. Spawn stood up and whined slightly. "Sit down, boy. You ain't getting shit from me...I'm not ya mama."

_**XXX**_

Clay nodded as Jax finished talking. "Let's vote. Immediate retaliation?" He raised his hand and said, "Yea!"

_**XXX**_

The intruders entered the salon through the back door without notice. Once inside, Hoover sat the heavy wooden crate down on a counter top and they gathered around it...well the men did. Polly had immediately taken to trashing the salon. She grabbed anything that wasn't nailed down and proceeded to throw it against a wall or to the floor.

Weston watched her with a mix of annoyance and amusement. "What the hell are you doing?"

"What's it look like?" Polly asked sarcastically.

"Get over here." Weston demanded. "We have something BRIGHTER planned."

Polly tossed one last bottle of shampoo across the room and walked over to where Hoover had removed the lid of the crate. Weston stared at the contents and nodded his approval. "Molotovs... nice. What'd you use?"

Hoover shrugged. "Little fuel, little soupy goo to make it stick where it splatters. All household, easy to get stuff... nothing traceable."

"Not even the bottles." Jenkins added. "And we used towels, like you said she uses here in the salon, as the wicks."

"Perfect." Weston said with a sharp nod. He pointed to Polly and then to the front window. "You're on look out duty...yell if someone comes by."

Down the block, Vix strolled toward the salon, trying to remember the last time she had seen that damn book bag. She hummed for a few seconds and then realized Ellie had been upstairs in the office researching Volcanoes on the lap top.

XXX

The vote went counter-clockwise around the table. Tig nodded. "Absolutely...yea."

Chibs frowned and shook his head, "Don't feel right… so, no."

_**XXX**_

Weston pulled a bottle from the crate and shoved it into the hands of Jenkins and then grabbed another and gave it to Hoover. "Spread the love, boys. Start upstairs, work your way down and back."

The two men nodded and headed for the stairs. Hoover bounded up the first few but Jenkins pulled up short and stood staring at the rail with a frown. Weston glared at him from across the dimmed light salon. "What the fuck's your problem? Get going?"

Jenkins swallowed hard and shook his head. He thought back a few month earlier when Tig Trager had thrown him down a flight a stairs. His leg never healed right and unless he suddenly won the lottery and could afford about three surgeries, he would always walk with a limp. "I don't like stairs...not anymore." He confessed quietly.

"Don't be such a pussy." Hoover called out but ran back down and snatched the fire bomb from his friend's hand. He ran back upstairs and walked around for a moment trying to pick the best location before he spotted the office. Holding one of the bottles under his arm, he lit the rag wick of the other. He gave the flame a moment or two to really begin burning the wick and then flung the bottle against the front of the desk. The bottle's contents exploded all over the desk and fire engulfed it with a _WHOOSH._

Hoover grinned mischievously and ran out of the room. He bounded down the stairs just has Polly spotted movement coming toward the salon. She squinted and whispered, "Shit!" She turned around and hissed at the guys, "That Parker bitch is coming...hurry it up!"

"Move your ass!" Weston ordered. Hoover complied by lighting the bottle in his hand and then quickly slamming it down on the stairs.

_**XXX**_

Opie eyed Clay and nodded, "Yea."

Piney glared at his son and stubbed his cigarette out forcefully. "NAY!"

_**XXX**_

As Vix reached the front door of the salon, the slightly muffled sound of glass breaking stole her attention. She frowned and looked inside salon through the glass front door. Confusion made her freeze as her brain tried to make sense of the vision before her. _What the hell? Is that FIRE? _The flames from the burning stairwell grabbed her attention. "OH SHIT! NO!"

_**XXX**_

The vote moved to Juice. All eyes are on him and he looked uncomfortable with the attention. He glanced at Tig, who he found shooting him a hard stare. His eyes moved to Jax and his expression was almost apologetic as he held up his hand and cast his vote, "Yea!" The moment the words leave his lips he closed his eyes and hung his head.

_**XXX**_

Vix immediately tried to push open the front door, her mind only thinking of getting inside to put out the flames. She bumped up against the locked door twice before realizing what she needed to do. "Damnit...keys!"

She pulled her shop keys out of her pocket and then proceeded to drop them on the front stoop in her panic. She knelt down and grabbed them, began flipping to the right one. "Come on...come on!" She kept sneaking peaks inside the salon and groaned as she watched the flames spreading. "Shit!" She looked deeper into the salon and could have sworn she saw movement in the back of the salon. A moment later, her suspicions were confirmed when more breaking glass was heard and a fire sprang to life in the back store room.

"What are you doing?" Weston yelled and Polly grabbed the two bottles and stole the lighter from Hoover's hands. She went running toward the front of the salon, to where Vix was now desperately trying to get inside.

Polly turned and smiled coldly over her shoulder. "You said I could throw one...so I am!"  
She lit the first bottle and launched it toward the huge glass front window of the salon. The bottle hit it's bulls eye and the entire window exploded. Flames jumped to life around the wooden window frame.

Vix let out an involuntarily surprised scream. She finally slid her key into the lock. Just as she was pushing open the door, Polly launched her second burning bottle. The throw was rushed due to Polly trying to run backwards at the same time but the bottle slammed against the front door, shattering the glass. Seeing the motion, Vix turned away from the door and threw her arm up to block the impact as glass shards flew at her, digging into her skin. Fire sprung to life and danced around the door frame. She managed to turn back in time to watch the figures running out of the back of the salon.

_**XXX**_

Jaci took another bite of salad and began to chew...it wasn't even close to being as good as Vix's rings, but oh well. She looked around her plate for a cherry tomato and had just stabbed it when the slight sound of glass breaking shattered the quiet of the cafe's patio. Jaci frowned and looked down the street, not sure of what she had heard. She glanced over to another couple that was dining on the patio. They had the same confused look on their faces.

"Was that a wreck? Sounded like glass maybe." One patron commented.

Jaci shrugged. "I didn't hear any brakes."

"That's usually the cause of wrecks...no brakes." A third patron teased as he got up from his seat and walked out onto the sidewalk staring down the street. He started to walk a few steps in the direction of the noise. "Well, something's going on down there. Hell I think that's fire!"

The mention of fire grabbed Jaci's attention and she was up and moving before she realized it. She walked to where the patron was standing on the sidewalk. He pointed down the street. "See? That's fire, right?"

She blinked in disbelief for a fraction of a second and started walking further down the sidewalk. Her heart began to pound as her brain started calculating the approximate location of the flames. She felt like she was walking in quicksand. _Oh shit. Please don't let that be..._

_**XXX**_

"Motherfuckers!" Vix screamed. "NONONONONO!" The blaze was now burning full throttle.. a mix of smoke and flames, destroying her beloved salon. Her mind flashed on the fire extinguisher located in the break room and she went to lunge through the burning entryway, just as a hand clamped down on her shoulder and yanked her backward. She hit the sidewalk fast and hard, landing on her coccyx. The impact knocked the wind out of her. She inhaled deeply trying to regain her lost breath only to choke on the smoke filled air around her.

_**XXX**_

Jax sighed with a resigned look on his face.

Clay nodded, " 4-2!" He looked at Bobby, "Where you at, brother?"

Bobby seemed to mull something over in his head. Even as he made his choice known, he appears to be conflicted. "Smart vote...nay."

_**XXX**_

"Hey, miss! Your dog!" One of the diners called out but Jaci didn't hear the reminder. Her brain was done was with calculations and the sum wasn't good. _That's the salon...oh shit...Vix...the backpack...INSIDE... VIX! _She shoved past a gawker at the end of the cafe's lot and started to sprint down the sidewalk.

_**XXX**_

Jax nodded. "Nay! 4-4, no majority." He states the obvious outcome of the vote. "We wait on retaliation."

Clay barely tapped the gavel to signal the end of the meeting.

_**XXX **_

As she tore down the sidewalk at a dead sprint, Jaci couldn't remember the last time she had ran so hard. Sure she had ran at the gym but she hadn't ran with such explosive speed probably since her softball days in college. Her feet slammed onto the pavement in perfect churning rhythm as her arms pumped to try and propel her faster. As she ran she kept hearing a noise, a loud shrieking noise but she couldn't figure out what it was. It finally dawned on her that the noise was coming from her. She was screaming her sister's name over and over as she ran.

"VIX! VIX!" She screamed followed by a volley of prayers, pleads and demands. "Let her be ok, please let her be ok, don't do this to us, don't do this!" She gulped in air and bore down on the salon.

The street lights illuminated her path but they really weren't necessary. The flames blazing out of the front window of the salon and were a brilliant orange and red against the blackness of the night. As she ran the last fifteen yards, she saw two figures struggling in front of the salon and at that exact moment she heard her sister scream. The figure on the ground was Vix...and she seemed to be trying to fight off a man kneeling above her.

_**XXX**_

Most of the Sons file out of the chapel but Clay and Bobby remained behind. Tig watched Juice make a beeline for the club house bar, grab a beer and take a dispirited pull. The look on the young biker's face was a storm of emotion that the SAA apparently felt the need to put a stop to. He walked up next to the kid and nodded at him, "You voted the right way."

Juice shrugged. "Who's right and who's wrong is a matter of opinion. And you don't need to tell me the rule about those… I know it!" He sighed and continued. "Didn't have a choice on how to vote… you knew that when you hit me with the low blow."

"Vix?" Tig asked with a smirk. "Come on... do you really expect different from me?"

"Not really, no."

"That heart of yours is gonna get in the way, man. People know they can use your girl to sway your actions."

"She doesn't sway my vote or actions." Juice scoffed. "Do I want to see her hurt? No! End of story."

_**XXX**_

Jaci's adrenaline red lined. "Get the fuck off her!' She screamed as she slammed into the man with a bone jarring precision tackle that would have made football coaches across the nation proud. The man was knocked clear of Vix and landed on his side on the pavement. Jaci landed half on top, half off of the man but quickly scrambled to grab hold of him. "What the fuck are you doing? What'd you do to her?" She screamed as she grabbed fistfuls of the guy's opened button up work shirt.

"Goddamnit! Get the fuck off me!" The man protested as he tried to push away the hysterical woman that had just knocked the hell out of him. "I didn't do shit! Get off!"

The sound of the man's voice sent instant fear running through Jaci's veins. She recognized him and anger shot through her. _Darby? _"What the fuck did you do?"

_**XXX**_

Tig laughed, almost snorted out loud at the kid. "I think you need to flip the page man… _The Juice N Vix Epic Saga _is far from over."

Juice rolled his eyes and went to walk away. "Whatever."

"Come here, retard. We need to have a little talk." Tig ordered. The bullshit had went on too long. Juice stopped and turned and followed behind the older man.

Over in the far corner of the club house Tig sighed, "I got two questions for you and I want honest answers, no bullshit." Tig warned as Juice watched him warily. "Do you love Vix?"

Juice didn't hesitate. "Yes."

"You want her back?"

"Yes." Juice nodded solemnly.

"Ok, then you need to fix some shit. And because I am feeling... generous, I'm gonna give ya some advise." Tig said bluntly. "And before we ever get started, this conversation we're about to have…I'll deny ever saying any of it." Tig rolled his neck and got serious.

_**XXX**_

Vix sucked in a deep breath and rolled to her side to see Jaci half straddling the man that had held her down and administered a series of sharp strikes to her upper body. Her sister had one fist cocked back next to her ear, ready to punch him. Vix turned and looked at her salon and the flames and the smallest bit of hope flared inside of her. Maybe there was still time to save it. Vix got to her feet and started toward the salon.

Darby spotted Vix making another try for the salon. _Damn that girl won't quit! _He tried to sit up but Jaci pushed him back. "Get the fuck off me!" He yelled as he twisted underneath her and managed to kick her backwards. Jaci stumbled back onto her ass and watched as Darby got to his feet and lunged to grab Vix by the back of her shirt. That move sprung Jaci into action. She jumped to her feet and scrambled to protect her sister. She landed a hard right hand upside Darby's temple that he never saw coming.

_**XXX**_

Tig nodded at Juice. "You've been stepping up lately for the club, pounding on Georgie's guys, getting violent and whatever. And it's good to see you out from behind that goddamn laptop and actually doing something for a change. Even beating that teacher's ass was good in theory…but all that's new for you. If you're gonna keep down this road…you gotta learn to control your shit."

Juice frowned at him, wondering what he had done wrong with club stuff and it then it dawned on him. "This is about me backhanding Vix? That was a COMPLETE accident."

"People been cracking jokes about me being your _new role model_ and that's funny or whatever. But you need to understand some shit." Tig got quiet for a moment trying to decide how to explain things to Juice. "My dad, what little he was around, he used to beat the shit out of my mom and us kids. My childhood is a headshrinker's wet dream of text book bullshit. Any one of those fuckers would give me a free pass on bad behavior for the rest of my life. But that's all bullshit, Juice. I know Ruby raised you so I'm guessing your life wasn't all rainbows and sunshine or you wouldn't have been with her in the first place." Tig pressed his lips together and then continued. "What you do in life…that's on YOU. You don't pin your fuck-ups on the fact that your daddy didn't hug you enough or that your mom was a worthless junkie whore or whatever the fuck."

Juice was stunned by Tig's revelations. He had never heard the SAA talk so seriously, usually everything was a joke to him. Tig shrugged. "I'll freely admit that I get sex and violence and love and pain and pleasure a little mixed up. I blur lines that I shouldn't sometimes and I don't take the time to try and fix that. But with all the fucked up shit I do… I've never laid a hand on a woman that I gave a shit about."

"No shit?" Juice's eyebrows went up. Tig was notorious for being rough with women, he had even bragged about it so his confession to never hurting someone he cared about was a little surprising.

_**XXX**_

Darby took the blow and still held onto Vix. Using her t-shirt for leverage, he spun her around away from the fire and let her go as Jaci hit him again, this time in the ribs. Vix danced to keep her balance. He turned back to Jaci. "Stop fucking hitting me! I'm trying to help you!"

"Keep your hands off her!" Jaci yelled and stepped to stand in front of her sister. She put her hands on Vix's shoulders. "You ok?"

"J, let me go. I think we can save it." Vix pleaded and tried to sidestep.

Jaci frowned at her sister and glanced back at the burning salon. "No, honey... I don't think so."

"See what I mean?" Darby asked with annoyance. ""That place is toast...and you two are going to the same if you keep standing in front of the GODDAMN FIRE! I been trying to keep her out of it."

_**XXX**_

Tig continued with his speech. "If you're gonna model your life after mine, which is completely fucking stupid by the way. But if you're gonna be like me…learn to control yourself. You have to put up some walls. If you get Vix back…"

"I won't ever hit her, Tig. Not EVER again." Juice cut him off and declared.

"Yeah, you will." Tig said bluntly. "Vix is a feisty fuckin' bitch, man. She pushes and pushes your buttons and that ain't gonna change. If you two get back together, you get in a fight about something….you'll get all riled up. And if you don't learn to control your shit, you'll pop her before you think about it and that will be the end of it. She won't forgive you a second time. You'll be lucky if she doesn't kill you."

Juice started to protest but Tig held up a hand. "I'm just telling you not to let the lines get blurred, Juice. Stop all that shit now before it goes too far. Understand me? You got a shot here, man. You can have something good with Vix. You don't have to wake up next to random whores your whole life and regret all the shit you did the night before."

"Yeah." Juice choked out in response. Everything Tig was saying was hitting the bull's eye with him; the shitty childhood, losing control, wanting to blame everything on someone else. He hated himself lately and all the shit he was doing and the effect it was having on Vix.

Tig stood up. "Punch a wall, kick over a coffee table, throw a TV in the floor or just fucking leave and come back later. If you love her…you keep your hands off her. You don't get your shit together….in twenty years, you're gonna be ME. Trust me, brother…you don't want that."

_**XXX**_

Jaci wildly looked to Darby and then to Vix and tried to make some sense of the situation. Why would Darby, who had had his guys try to KILL HER months earlier be willing to help her sister? She suck in huge gulps of air but coughed when most of it was tinged with smoke. Her head was literally spinning and she blinked hard to focus on Vix. "You're ok?" Her sister nodded. "You sure you're ok?"

"He won't let me put it out!" Vix yelled in frustration.

That exclamation solidified Darby's stance on the events and Jaci stared at him while still holding onto her sister. Darby raised his hands, "See? I told you I helping her."

"What the hell happened? What are you doing here?" Jaci started to lob questions at Darby but her voice was drown out by the sounds of approaching sirens.

Darby's head snapped in the direction of the police cars and firetrucks. The flashing lights could be seen in the distance. "Just get away from the goddamn fire will ya?" He walked backwards toward Main Street and motioned for the girls to do the same. Jaci wrapped a protective arm around Vix and literally had to pull her away from the salon's sidewalk.

_**XXX**_

Juice nodded, completely understanding how he was going to have to learn to draw lines between being wild and reckless with the club and being controlled with Vix and whatever life he could maybe have with her. He frowned and stopped Tig. "Wait a sec…if you KNOW all this shit you do is bad and know exactly why you do it…then why don't YOU fix it? You know, like fix YOU?"

Tig smiled. "I suck at the fixing part….sorta late in the game for me anyway." He looked over at the sound of the chapel doors opening and saw Clay and Bobby exit. He nodded understanding at the look Clay shot him. He slapped Juice on the shoulder and walked off to join Clay but called over his shoulder. "Think about what I said."

_**XXX**_

The growing crowd of people began to descend on the scene of the fire. People left their cars running in the middle of the street to get out and gawk at the flames. Wild shit like this just didn't happen in Charming. Jaci and Vix walked into the crowd and turned to face their burning salon. Darby faded into the crowd and weaved through until he got to the back of it. The police arrived and began to try to wrangle the crowd. He took one last look at the fire and shook his head as he turned and walked with long purposeful strides away from Main Street.

_**XXX**_

Mary navigated the far end of Main Street with a tight grip on the steering wheel and a frown on her face. "What is with all this traffic? Who goes out at 9 o'clock at night?"

"We do, Grandma." Kenny announced happily from the backseat. He was happy to be dodging his normal bedtime. Ellie rolled her eyes in her seat beside her younger brother.

"Well, we've got a good reason for it." Mary snapped. "What's with all these other ya-oohs?"

As she drove further down the street, they discovered the way was actually blocked. She looked past the officer at the roadblock and could see smoke. She rolled down her window and the stench of smoke was thick in the air. The lights from the firetruck spun brightly in the night and Mary got a sinking feeling in her stomach. She took a quick glance in the rear view mirror at her grand-kids who were wild eyed and staring out the window.

"Gramma, what's going on?" Kenny asked.

A huge frown crossed Ellie's face. "This is just like Mama. All the lights."

Kenny glanced at his sister and then back up to Mary, worry spreading on his young face. "Is somebody hurt?"

Mary pulled the car over and slammed it into park. She unbuckled her seat belt and turned in her seat to face the little children in the backseat. "Listen here..you two stay RIGHT HERE. Do NOT move. I'm going to go see what's going on and I will be right back." She opened her door and got out but leaned back inside and pointed her finger at the kids one last time. "DO NOT MOVE!"

She walked up the street as fast as she could go and pulled cellphone out of her pocket. She pushed through the large crowd of people that were watching the fire and the crew trying to put it out. She finally got close enough to have her worst fears confirmed; it was Twisted Scissors that was on fire. She raised her cell phone, selected a number and hit _SEND_.

_**XXX**_

Juice sat and thought about all that Tig had said and finally his heart was willing to work in cahoots with his brain. He almost leaped out of the chair he'd been sitting in. Determined to fix the shit between him and Vix, he started for the exit of the club house.

Across the room, Piney's cell phone rang. He glanced at the called id and rolled his eyes. He took a pull from his beer before he answered. "Yeah, Mar."He listened for a moment and his brow narrowed in confusion. "What? Jesus Christ." He looked at the guys standing around the clubhouse. "Hey! You fellas need to head over to Main Street. Mary says Vix's salon is on fire."

**To be continued….**


	13. Chapter 103, Ricochets

**Walk Away from the Son****  
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SoA  
Chapter 10 RUNAWAY TRAIN **

**RUNAWY TRAIN: Part 3 – Ricochets**

_**Author's Note: Before reading, do yourself a favor, go to youtube and check out three songs:**_

_**Cold Desert, Kings of Leon**_

_**Chasing Cars, Snow Patrol**_

_**Life After You, Daughtry**_

_**XXX**_

_**I'm worried about you, I'm worried about me**_

_**We're lighting the fuses…and counting to three.**_

_**To try and get off now... it's about as insane…**_

_**As those who wave lanterns at Runaway Trains.**_

_**This thing has turned into a Runaway Train… **_

Juice stopped dead in his tracks, hand flat against the club house door as if bracing himself for a truth he didn't want to register. His eyes bored into the Reaper symbol; he felt very detached as his mind tried to process Piney's alarming words... _Vix, salon, fire...Vix, Salon, Fire... Vix... Fire... Vix.. Vix._ When his brain wrapped around the statement, a raw mix of emotions surged through him. He yanked open the door, pushed through the exit and started across the lot at a dead run. Behind him, the door slammed hard; everyone in the clubhouse turned at the sound, their eyes falling on words: _Fear The Reaper_.

Happy crossed the lot, headed toward the clubhouse with eyes narrowed. He upnodded to Juice who had just come running out of his destination. "Somethin's on fire over on Main Street."

"It's Vix's salon." Juice breathed out with a nod.

"I'm with ya." Hap replied already headed back for his bike.

The clubhouse crew stared at the door for a split second before reacting. Bobby was the first to follow Juice's exodus. "The Salon? Jesus Christ!" Jax spat out as he headed for the door followed by Chibs. Opie brought up the tale end of the group hurrying for their bikes. Juice and Hap were already tearing out of the lot as the other four rushed to fire up their bikes. The sounds of Harleys coming to life temporarily drowned out the sounds of sirens in the distance.

_**XXX**_

Vix stared in horror as she watched her salon, _her dream_ burn up..She looked around her at the sea of people: townsfolk, cops, fireman. The flashing emergency vehicle lights gave a surreal feeling to the chaos. She heard John Cougar Mellencamp singing in her head … _she chased her dream with much desire... but when she got too close to her expectations... she saw her dream burn up like paper in fire. _ Her breathing became choppy and caused her to choke, as if the smoke from the burning building wasn't enough.

_**XXX**_

Beside her, Jaci heard her sister cough and gag and she spun to facing her. She hadn't yet had time or good lighting to allow her to take stock of her sister's condition. She eyed Vix up and down and saw that she was covered in grime and dirt, soot and ashes, sweat, blood. But more off-putting than any physical damage was what she saw in her sister's eyes; anguish, heartbreak, anger, confusion, fear. It was the fear that unsettled Jaci the most. Vix despite sometimes outward appearances was a complex person, she had so many levels of self-defense. Self-preservation had been instilled within her at an early age and for something to pierce through that and tap into her FEAR...it was as rare as it was devastating.

Jaci wrapped her arms tightly around her sister, only to have Vix wince and pull quickly away. At her sister's startled and questioning look, Vix nodded to her right bicep area. "My arm... hurts like a bitch."

Jaci leaned closer and her eyes widened at what she saw. She quickly tugged Vix closer, under a street light to further examine her arm."Jesus Christ! Vix, baby girl... you're burnt... badly."

_**XXX**_

Deputy Chief Hale was staring in disbelief at the Nightmare on Main Street. He shook his head at the thought of the devastation that kept erupting in his beloved town; blown up meth labs, body count at an all time high, White Hate groups, threats of gang banger drive-bys and Mexican drug cartels. Charming was starting to resemble the fifth-ring of Hell and he was feeling powerless to stop it. No matter which line he tried to walk they led him to a dead end; the straight and narrow road led him no where and when he tried to follow Chief Unser's footsteps, giving SAMCRO intel to save Oswald's land, it just ended up biting him in the ass. More violence … more hurt... more insanity. His line of vision finally came to rest on the Parker Sisters, standing on the other side of the street.. Jaci was talking rapid-fire at Vix, who was staring at the burning ruin that was Twisted Scissors. He marched off in their direction, trying to figure a way to keep all the bullshit contained.

_**XXX**_

The short ride from TM to Twisted Scissors had proved anything but...on this crazy night the streets were practically clogged shut. Getting as close as he could to the scene, still at least three blocks away, Juice suddenly veered off the road and shot up a back alley. Happy followed closely behind, not sure where the hell his brother was going, but wherever it was, he wasn't going alone.

The alley dumped Juice and Happy a few hundred feet from the scene of the fire. Parking his bike in the middle of the mouth of the alley, Juice was off it in a heartbeat. As he and Happy went to step away from their bikes and head towards the scene, Chief Unser came up to them. "Hey, fellas... that's not a parking lot."

Happy eyed the chief of police with disdain; he hated cops, even ones that occasionally helped the club. "Tow us."

"Jesus Christ. Has everyone gone crazy?" Unser muttered as the two bikers rushed away.

From down the alley, the sounds of a group of bikes could be heard approaching. Soon Jax, Chibs, Opie and Bobby added their bikes to the ones parked there. Jax eyed Unser, "Any news."

Unser shrugged. "Nothin' official. Salon may or may not be a total loss. The FD responded quickly but it was completely engulfed when they arrived."

Opie nodded then frowned. "The girls? Vix? Jaci?"

Unser shook his head. "No sign of either one of them, yet. Jaci's car is out front. If they were inside when it was set... upstairs? I don't even wanna guess."

"Was it set?" Bobby questioned the chief oddly. "This being reported as arson?"

Unser scoffed and holding up his arm pointed to the two-story structure that was smoking and burning."Does that look like someone left a curling iron on? Come on fellas."

"Keep your suspicions to yourself, huh Chief?" Jax half suggested, half ordered.

Happy was suddenly standing in front of the group, "Shit ain't good. Found Vix... your deputy got her cuffed to one of those fancy fences around the trees across the street from the salon."

"Jesus Christ." Unser muttered for the second time that night and headed back towards the front of the scene.

"WHAT?" Bobby voiced the collective question. "Hale has Vix under arrest?" Hap could only shrug.

"Where's Juice?" Jax questioned.

"He's dealing with his Gramma and her friends. We ran into them on our way up. Think he's trying to get 'em to go home."

"What about Jaci? Seen her?" Opie inquired. Hap shook his head and filed in line as Jax led the contingent of Sons, weaving and pushing their way through the crowd.

_**XXX**_

"I want my sister." Vix hollered at the dumbass Deputy Chief. "You had NO RIGHT to separate us... "

"I had every right. You were both obstructing a police investigation, hindering a rescue effort at a crime scene and being GENERAL PAINS IN THE ASS." Hale defended his actions after questioning of the Parker sisters had turned extremely volatile and semi violent. "You both want to act like children? FINE... THAT is why I put you in time out."

"Whatever! Explain the cuffs to me?" Vix jangled the metal bracelets on her wrist for his view and benefit..

"Consider yourself lucky that you're only cuffed to a fence and not on your way to the PD."

"What that little shove?" Vix questioned with a frown. "Come on.."

"You assaulted a police officer."

"Well you INSULTED me." Vix rolled her eyes and then narrowed them. "You wanna see me assault a police officer. Do ya? Uncuff me, Davey Boy. I'll kick your ass up and down Main Street."

Suddenly from inside the burning salon a rapid fire series of explosions could be heard followed by a mass exodus of firefighters. The window in the front of the salon on the second floor shattered and glass rained down upon the ground. Vix felt the fight go out of her. She sat down hard on the ground next to the fence she was cuffed to and blinked back tears as she stared across the street at the crazy scene.

_**XXX**_

The Sons had been temporarily set off course by the explosions and the glass pouring down. Jax nodded towards Opie, "Find Jaci." He glanced at Happy and Bobby, "Go check on Vix." He looked at Chibs next, "Find Juice... tell him to keep his shit under control."

"Aye." Chibs nodded. "Where you headed, brother?" 

"I'm gonna go find Hale... see what the fuck is goin' on."

_****_It didn't take long for the Sons to find their respective destinations. Bobby and Happy found the handcuffed Vix. Mentally, she was in bad shape. She didn't say anything when they walked up and set to seeing about her. They were used to seeing a happy Vix or if nothing else, a pissed off Vix...but never a SILENT one. Worried glances were exchanged between the men. Ironically, the more heartless of the two, Happy, was the one to notice that Vix was indeed physically hurt. Hap crouched down to get a better look and motioned for Bobby to do the same.

After pushing through the crowd of looky-loos, Chibs spotted Juice. "You send Gramma Ruby home?"

Juice nodded. "Yeah, finally convinced her and the Olds to leave. Promised to call them in the morning, sooner if anything goes more wrong." He eyed the Scotsman. "Have you seen the girls?"

"Aye, found Vix."

"Where?" Juice started to walk further towards the scene.

Chibs grabbed his arm, "Hold off brother."

"What? What are you talking about?" Juice moved to pull his arm out of Chibs' grasp.

Chibs clamped down harder. "Listen to me, you keep to the fringes. That girl's likely in shock, her head is anywhere but clear. I'm doin' this to protect both of ya from yourselves. Thank me or kick my arse later, but for now..." He nodded towards the edge of the activity. "...keep to the fringes."

Happy walked over to them. "Bobby needs you to take a look at Vix. Her arm is fucked up, burnt or something. She won't let the paramedics touch her, wants you."

Juice glared at Chibs, who nodded to Happy. "Keep him here."

Further down the block, Jax spotted Hale and walked up to him. "What the fuck, man? You need to uncuff my sister-in-law."

Hale grimaced at the young VP. "Do not tell me how to do my job, Jax. Everytime I try to do right by seemingly doing wrong, everything goes to shit. And now look… two wrongs DO NOT make a right, Jax. Never did…"

_**XXX**_

Back at the clubhouse, Clay and Tig came walking out of the Chapel after having a post vote bitch session. The main area of the clubhouse was very empty. Clay frowned and then groaned when he saw the look on Piney's face, who was sitting at the bar. "Where is everyone?" When the old man didn't readily answer, Clay asked more loudly, "What?"

Piney shrugged. "That immediate retaliation you wanted… you may get it after all. Someone set fire to the Parker girls' salon."

Clay's face fell with shock. "Jesus!"

"What?" Tig asked with confusion. He immediately glanced around the room looking for Juice, whom he had just given a stern heart to heart to. He envisioned Juice trying to apologize with a screaming ranting Vix at the salon. _Tell me that little retard didn't go and do something stupid!_

The front door opened and Gemma walked in with concerned etched on her face. "I just came from Jax's place. Something big is going on, Main Street is blocked off. Had to come the long way 'round." She noticed the odd looks "What? What is it?"

"Vix's salon is on fire." Piney said for what felt like the hundredth time and watched Gemma's mouth drop open in surprise. "I told Op to call me when they got there...found out something."

Clay didn't feel like waiting and from the tense look on Tig's face, neither did he. He pointed at his SAA. "Call Op."

Tig pulled his phone from his back pocket and scrolled down through the list of fake names, hitting send on the one for Opie. The call went through but just rang and rang. He glared at the floor and rolled his tongue around his mouth, willing the guy to pick up and after the sixth ring, he got his wish.

"Yeah." Op yelled into the phone as he pressed one finger into his free ear. The commotion of the scene was too loud for a normal conversation.

"What the fuck is going on down there?" Tig snapped and then hit the speakerphone button so everyone could hear.

"Total fuckin' chaos." Op replied honestly as he scanned the crowd. "It's the salon on fire alright. People everywhere. Hale's got Vix handcuffed..."

"What the hell for?" Clay yelled.

Op frowned at the sudden strange voice, not realizing he was on speaker. "Jax's going to talk some sense to him. I think she's alright though, might have burn on her arm. I'm looking for Jaci but I don't see her."

"She's not with Vix?" Tig asked and then stood perfectly still in the middle of the clubhouse. He was staring at the phone in his hand and trying not to break it by hard he was squeezing. He took a deep breath through his nose. She was never too far away from her sister. She should be RIGHT by her.

"No man, she wasn't with Vix. I can't find her anywhere." Op replied. "Cops are still trying to figure out what happened, if anyone was inside."

Tig looked up at Clay. With over a decade of brotherhood came the benefit of communicating extremely effectively without saying a word. Tig's look screamed _I have to go! _Clay looked hard at his friend, knowing that if he told him to stay put, he would. Tig's loyalty and obedience to the club was first and foremost but Jaci, even as an ex had quite a pull and for a second Clay almost wanted to test that pull.

"Keep lookin, Op." Clay ordered. "We're on our way." He looked at Tig and nodded once. "Go." Tig slapped his phone shut and stormed out the clubhouse door.

_**XXX**_

Jaci stood with her arms crossed glaring at the action across the way as Officer Candy stood next to her and kept giving her sympathetic glances. Even the officer had to agree that Vix and Jaci shouldn't have been separated and treated the way they were. The salon fire had been burning as hot as people's tempers and emotions and tonight was not the time for Hale to even remotely suggest that the girls had had something to do with the setting of the fire. Candy leaned over to Op and whispered something in his ear. He nodded and then the officer headed back across the street.

"I'm your new babysitter." Op said with a slight grin. Jaci didn't smile back, she was too busy throwing death glares at the remains of her sister's business. Her hands were clenched at her sides as her anger boiled. With Vix, Jaci was the fixer, the protector and tonight someone had seriously fucked with that. Someone had torched their place, damn near torched her sister and she was pissed.

"Sorry bout the salon, J." Op said quietly. They stood in silence for a moment or two. "Hey, why don't you take a load off, sit down? We're not going anywhere for a long damn time." She finally nodded and sat down on the curb a little ways from him. It was then his turn to stare at the chaos. No one would be leaving for hours. He didn't know how fire scenes went but he knew entirely too much about murder scenes, they drug on forever.

_**XXX**_

"Goddamn clusterfuck." Tig muttered as he pulled up to the scene. It looked as if a good damn chunk of the town's population had shown up to gawk at the fire and the resulting action. He slammed his helmet down on his handle bars and headed for the heart of the scene. Op's words kept playing over and over in his head... _I can't find Jaci, don't see her. _Tig peered through the crowd, scanning this way and that, bumping into and shoving past people as he tried to get further down the street.

_Where is she? Come on...where's she at?_The firefighters were putting the final touches on the charred salon. After a moment or two of searching and coming up empty handed, Tig imagination was trying to pull him toward horror movie devastation levels. Horrible mental images were starting to creep up in his head. _Fuckin' fire...shit what if she got burnt? What if she's all fucked up and looking like Freddy Kreuger now. Jesus Christ, come on...where IS she?_ His heart pounded in his chest as he spotted the parked ambulance...but the doors were all closed, no one seemed to be messing with it, there was no sense of urgency around it at all.

_She's not burnt...she's fine. She's gotta be fine...just have to fuckin FIND HER. _He shoved past a couple staring and pointing toward the salon and finally laid eyes on Bobby and Happy. They were huddled around someone...Vix. She looked ok, well not OK, but she was on her feet and not crying and that seemed like a good sign given the circumstances. "BOBBY!" Tig yelled.

Bobby looked up at hearing his name yelled. He spotted Tig and up nodded. Tig threw his hands up as if to say _what the hell? _Bobby gave him a thumbs up sign, letting him know that Vix was alright. Tig nodded curtly but then Bobby noticed the tense look on his friend's face. It wasn't Vix he was really worried about...it was Jaci. Bobby smiled slightly and pointed over to the flower beds that ran through the median of Main Street.

Tig's head swiveled to follow Bobby's directions. He craned his neck and saw Opie then Candy from the police department...then Jaci standing a foot or so away from them. All of them were staring straight ahead at the burnt out salon with fierce concentration. Tig took a huge intake of air and relief flooded over him in a way he hadn't felt in a very long time. _She's ok...it's ok. No Freddy Kreuger face. It's alright. She looks...perfect, well righteously pissed, but perfect. _He took an involuntarily step in her direction but stopped. The urge to run and grab her was smothering and he fought to shove it down. He took another long look at her and forced himself to walk back over to the guys and get the story on what the fuck had gone down.

_**XXX**_

Clay, having had enough of Gemma's ansty worry, drove the two of them to the scene. Jax watched Gemma scanning the crowd, worried look etched on her face. He blew out a breath, time to deal with the debriefing of the King and Queen.

"This an accident?" Clay asked hopefully as he stood in front of Gemma's Escalade..

Paraphrasing Unser, Jax replied, "Does this mess look like Vix left a curling iron on or some shit? Dumbass excuses ain't gonna fly. Someone firebombed the salon."

Gemma shoots him a look. "You find Jaci?" He nodded and pointed both her and Vix out. "They ok?"

"Chibs says Vix's arm got burnt, cut up a bit from the shattered glass. Head-wise she's in shock at best, scared probably. I would be if I was her. Hale says one of the firebombs was thrown at her head, said she could see someone. "

"Jesus Christ" Gemma breathed. "And Jaci?"

"Ain't got to see her yet. Opie says she's whole, no visible injuries."

"That salon was independent." Clay muttered, staring at the smoldering structure.

"Well, apparently someone didn't know or care. "We gotta figure out what we're doing with the Parkers tonight. They shouldn't be left alone, not after this. I'll call Tara, see if she's up for a goddamn slumber party."

"Somebody needs to let 'Bama know." Clay directed, eyeing Jax for the job.

Jax nodded, "I'll call in the morning."

"BB Parker needs to know NOW. If one of those girls calls him first..." Clay countered.

"It's 2:15 AM in Alabama." 

"Good, it's already morning... problem solved." Clay retorted and turned to walk away.. He stopped and turned back around, pointing at Jax. "You tell BB that SAMCRO will take care of this. STRESS that his girls are gonna be fine and reparations made. Last thing we needs is a goddamn _Next of Kin _ reenactment."

_**XXX**_

Staring at the fire wreckage just made her want to kill someone so in order to try and calm down, Jaci adverted her eyes. She sat on the curb, her elbows on her knees, head resting in her hands. Her blood pressure pills, try as they might, were failing miserably at keeping her from feeling the effects of her anger and worry. She worked on trying to steady her breathing. She harshly wiped away a few tears. She hated crying...hated being a woman at the moment because when the majority of women got pissed, they cried and people thought them to be dramatic and weak. Men didn't cry like that...lucky fuckers.

She heard footsteps coming her way and heard Opie instruct the newcomer to "be nice." She took a quick glance through her hands to see who was walking up. She sniffled and cleared her throat, trying to get her shit together. Jaci's defenses were engaged in an instant. "YOU crossed the street to talk to ME, not the other way around. If you're gonna yell…I can't handle your bullshit tonight, Tig. I just can't."

"Wasn't gonna yell." He replied and then stood over her for a long moment. The panic of losing her had subsided a bit and all the meaningful shit he should say got caught in his throat. He grimaced and just tried to say anything. "Heard you got put in a timeout?"

"Yeah." She mumbled. "Fuckin' ironic huh?"

Tig eased himself down next to her on the curb and stretched his left leg out straight. It was healing but still was a bit stiff. He looked over at her. "You ok?"

"Fuck no." Jaci spat but then shook her head. "I mean physically, yes. But..." She waved her hand toward the burned out salon across the street. "Shit...you know?"

"Yeah." Tig replied quietly. "So what happened? The fire and shit?" He had gotten a recap from Bobby but wanted to her her version of things.

Jaci sighed and stared at the pavement under her feet. In a robotic and detached tone, she recounted the night's events, eating at the cafe, seeing the fire, running at a break neck sprint to try and get to Vix. "When I got up here, there was a man on top on Vix...on the ground, hitting her and stuff and I just lost it. I tackled him, started throwing punches."

"Wait...who was punching Vix?" Tig asked with concern. "What guy? Where is he?"

"It was Darby." Jaci replied and then looked around the street non nonchalantly. "I don't think he stuck around."

Tig's face scrunched with confusion. "DARBY? What do you mean? What the fuck?" He watched Jaci just staring off in the distance again and tapped her on the leg then snapped his fingers. "HEY! Focus! What the fuck was Darby punching Vix for?"

"Nononono. He wasn't hurting her...he was _helping. _He pulled her away from the fire, kept her from running into it, trying to save the place." Jaci explained.

"Did you hit your head? That doesn't make any sense, Jaci. "

Jaci shrugged. "You're telling me. I was there, I saw him...I don't get it either."

Tig sat next to her for a few minutes until they saw Clay and Gemma arrive. He knew Clay would want a full rundown. Tig stood up. "Had enough timeout?" Jaci looked up and nodded at him. He extended his hand out to her. "Come on." She took his hand and let him pull her up to her feet. They headed back toward the hot bed of activity and the cluster of Sons that was beginning to form.

"Oh shit!" Jaci suddenly said and pulled up short with her hands covering her mouth.

"What?" He asked as he turned around to face her.

"I left Spawn! I took off running and left him tied to the damn chair."

"The dog?" He asked incredulously. She nodded and started to try and walk away, up the block. Tig reached and grabbed her hand. "Whoa whoa whoa. How can you give a shit about a dog at a time like this? You got way more important things to..."

Jaci cut him off. "Vix has already lost enough tonight. She's got some freak bond with that dog...she NEEDS him."

Tig groaned and stared up the street for a moment and then back to Jaci. Her forehead was furrowed with concern. Internally he called himself a _fucking sucker _and then pointed at her. "You stay put. Where's the damn thing at?"

"Bergen's."

"I'll go get the mutt, you stay here." Tig whistled and got Op's attention. Tig pointed to Jaci and started to walk away. Op walked over and resumed his babysitting/bodyguarding duty without a word. She watched in awe as her ex stalked away to retrieve her sister's dog...whom he hated.

_**XXX**_

After Unser had seen to it that Vix was release from her cuffs and reunited with her sister, the members of SAMCRO had unconsciously formed a loose huddle with Parkers near the middle. Jax had just hung up after talking on the phone with Tara trying to see what meds she might have for a burn and trying to explain why Vix wouldn't go to the hospital, even though she'd had done nothing wrong. Opie was fielding a call from his mother, his kids were distraught about the fire and wanting to know if Vix and Jaci were ok and she couldn't get them calmed down. He put his hand over the phone and relayed the crisis to Jax.

"Go deal with your kids, we got the Parkers' backs." Jax replied. "Your kids love Vix and Jaci, tell them that the girls are fine." Op nodded reluctantly and pacified Mary and then hung up. He hugged Jaci and told her what was going on. She echoed Jax's order for Op to head home. The kids were likely freaked out of their little minds, they needed their dad. Op put his head down and walked away from the group to head home. He would have much rather been put on guard duty than made to deal with emotional shit at home.

Tig walked up a couple minutes later with Spawn in his arms. He hadn't WANTED to carry the little bastard but there was too much chaos to make the pup walk. He could have gotten stepped on or run over and then Vix really would've lost her shit. Vix heard Spawn bark and turned her head. Her eyes widened, she had totally forgot about the dog. Tig held the dog out to her with a grimace. "Here's your mutt." She muttered thank you and squeezed Spawn tightly.

Jaci was standing a bit away being looked over by Gemma who had watched the dog exchange with a frown. "Tig willingly touched the dog?" Jaci shrugged but nodded yes. Gemma raised her eyebrows in wonder. "Well a crisis does sometimes focus the bullshit."

Tig had walked straight to Clay's side after dropping off the mutt and said quietly. "Well, I don't know who was on the INSIDE of the salon...but fuckin' Darby was on the OUTSIDE." Clay gave him a frown. Tig shrugged. "I don't know, man. Jaci said he pulled Vix back from the fire, kept her clear of it."

"He set it and then have a change of heart?" Clay asked...again Tig could only shrug.

Clay turned to address the crowd of Sons. "Ok, this shit was obviously arson. And since the Parkers here are such angels, somebody's probably fucking with them because of associations with US." He looked at the girls, his voice softening. "And it's one thing to torch a place after it's empty... but to hurl  
a Molotov Cocktail at one of OUR girls...that shit's unacceptable."

"We got a Parker Plan." Bobby announced.

"What? SAMCRO Day Care at Little Graceland?" Clay guessed. He eyed Jax who shrugged.

"I offered to have 'em at my place, but Tara isn't a fan of dogs and Vix ain't goin' no where without Spawn... not after this shit."

Clay shook his head, "I'll leave the logistics up to you all... just keep 'em safe. Last thing we need is to have to ship either one of them home to 'Bama in a pine box."

"JESUS!" Bobby scoffed. "We got 'em... Chibs is gonna patch Vix up. She's oddly recalled I have that fuckin' huge aloe plant.."

Jax rolled his eyes, "She needs more than aloe. We'll swing by my place, Tara says she has some stuff in her kit."

The guys glanced up at the sound of footsteps and saw Gemma approaching. "I called Vix's friend Rachel, told her to steer clear of Charming, at least for the night. It's suddenly become dangerous for hairdressers. We need to get those girls home, let 'em shower, change clothes, can't start to try to forget when the smell is still on you."

Jax nodded. "We're workin' on it."

"Good." She nodded and walked away not wanting to let Jax see how deep her concern really was. She wanted those girls safe, fearing that the same men that attacked her had found new targets in the Parkers.

_**XXX**_

"We don't need babysat, Jax." Jaci argued as she shut the passenger side door with Vix inside her car.

"Not up for discussion, get in the car." Jax answered with finality. "Tig, Hap, and Bobby are gonna follow you over to Bobby's place. Chibs and me are gonna dip over to mine, grab some shit to patch up your sister. We'll meet ya over there."

"What's wrong with OUR house?"

"Also not up for discussion. Someone burnt down your salon, whats to stop 'em from doin' the same to Parker Place?"

"Bite your tongue, Jackson Teller." Jaci hissed. She tossed a glance at her sister who was seated in the passenger seat hugging Spawn and staring blankly out the window.

Jax stared at his sister in law with a half smile. "Just go to Bobby's. Please."

"Fine, whatever." She slams the driver's side door shut and revved the engine.

As the Parkers made their way through town with their MC escort, Vix spoke for the first time in hours. She looked over at Jaci with her lip trembling, "What the fuck, J? I mean...why's shit keep happening to us?"

Jaci glanced at her sister and for a moment, Vix truly was her LITTLE sister, again and needed her. She reached over and patted Vix on her good arm, wishing she had an answer for her, "I'm sorry. Baby Girl." She heard Vix sigh and a second later her sister appeared to have retreated back into her protective conclave.

_**XXX**_

"This is everything I have on hand... how bad is the burn?" Tara inquired, handing a small bag to Chibs.

"Light wasn't good out on the street but best guess, at least second degree." The Scotsman replied.

Tara glanced at Jax, "She needs to go to the ER." Abel let out a loud cry from his nursery before Tara had a chance to continue.. "God, I swear he is cutting another tooth or something, he's been fussing non-stop since I got home."

"I'll take care of the kid." Jax said, dismissing Tara. He shot a look at Chibs, "You good to go help at Bobby's?"

"Aye, no problem, brother. Take care of the wee one.. that's what those girls would insist on."

_**XXX**_

Vix, carrying Spawn, filed into Bobby's house but Jaci stopped short of the door. "If we are being sequestered here against our will, we're going to need some shit from home."

"Like what?" Tig asked and then added sarcastically, "Wait..make a list... that ought to cheer ya up."

"Changes of clothes for tomorrow, pajamas, make up, hair stuff, soap, moisturizer." Jaci rattled off and waited to see if the guys frowned. They didn't so she kept going. "Um...stuff for Spawn, Vix can't fall asleep without her iPod, and we need birth control pills, maybe tampons." Tig's eye twitched at the mention of the last two items. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"You want us to go pick up some stuff for the two of ya?" Hap questioned without hesitation.

"Oh, she REALLY doesn't want ME to pick out an outfit for HER to wear tomorrow." Tig snorted a laugh. "After that shit she pulled with the shorts and the flip flops... I'd be delighted to pick some shit out... really I would." Tig said highly amused and dead serious.

"I don't OWN anything I'd be ashamed to wear." Jaci remarked. "But NO, thank you Happy...I'll just go to our house, grab stuff for Vix and me."

_**XXX**_

"You know I wouldn't have extracted too much fashion revenge.. .but I woulda at last made sure it made your eyes POPPED." Tig said as he opened the driver side door of the Mustang."So, you sure you're ok to drive?"

"I'm fine." Jaci assured as she climbed inside the car. "Goddamnit...I hate this fuckin' town."

"We'll get the assholes who did this."

Jaci looked up at her ex. "Will you set them on fire?"

Tig smiled slightly. "Do you want me to?"

"I don't know...maybe. Can I decide later?"

"Sure." Tig replied but then looked at her seriously. "Ok, here's how this works; I'm gonna lead, then you, then Hap. We get to your place, just kill the engine and stay put. Don't open the garage. Got it?"

"Got it but I'd like to officially state that I don't NEED bodyguards."

"Noted...and I officially say SHUT UP." Tig said as he shut the driver side door and walked away to his bike.

_**XXX**_

Chibs arrived a few minutes later at Bobby's, entering through the kitchen door. Seeing only Bobby, he inquired, "Where is everybody?"

"Vix and Spawn are in the bathroom, Tig and Hap escorted J over to Parker Place to get the girls' shit." Bobby frowned. "Where's Jax?"

"Dealin' with a teething baby." Chibs started rooting through the medical supplies Tara had compiled. "Said I'd call him with a status update later."

Vix sat on the big fluffy throw rug on the floor of Bobby's bathroom. Spawn laid on the rug in front of her. Vix took a toke from the joint Bobby had given and held her breath as long as she could, letting the pot spread deep into her lungs. The pup cocked his head to one side staring at her. She blew out a long concentrated breath. "I hope you'll like 'Bama little dude, cause your Mama wants to go home."

She draws a ragged breath and slipped her cell phone out of her pocket, flipping through her contacts until she found the one listed as _** Mama Rox **_. She heard the phone ring five times and go to voice mail. It took all the strength she had not to breakdown on the phone and even with that she knew her voice was shaky and strained. "Mama it's me... there's nothin' left for me here now, Mama. I know Parkers don't tuck tail and run...but you gotta know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away and know when to run. I get now why BB loves that Kenny Rogers song so much. I think it's time for this girl to RUN... I wanna come home." Vix felt her throat constrict. She hung up before she sobbed.

_**XXX  
**_

Jaci pulled into the drive of her house and heeded Tig's prior instructions of not opening the garage door. He and Hap killed their engines way short of her house and let their bikes silently coast into the drive. She got out of car, talking low."You really don't have to do this. I mean, I know I took care of you after your wreck or whatever but you don't have to return any favors."

Tig already had his helmet off and met her at her car door. He smirked at her. "_This _is little different, someone tried to set you on FIRE." He gently pushed her back inside her car. "Gimme your house key. Stay here, lock your doors 'till I tell you its ok. We're gonna take a look around."

Jaci's eyebrows shot up but she pulled her house key from her key ring and handed it to him. Hap stood at the front of of her car and waited for his recon buddy. Tig pointed VERY sternly at her, "STAY PUT. That's an order, not a suggestion. I'm fuckin' serious." She nodded and waited anxiously as they disappeared around the side of the house. Hap pulled a gun from the back of his jeans.

A few minutes later, the garage door came alive and started to lift. Tig came walking out and gave her a come hear gesture with his hand. She rolled down her window and poked her head out, "All clear?"

He nodded, "Come on." She complied and he followed her inside the house, leaving the garage door open but locking the door to the house.

"So we're good? It's safe."

Hap nodded at her from his stance in the middle of her living room, "It's safe."

"Grab whatever you need, make it quick." Tig said as he headed to the kitchen to look out the window facing the street.

She packed for Vix first, emptying out a duffel bag and filling it with a change of clothes, makeup and hair products. Next she grabbed a few things for Spawn, food, a chew toy and his little fleece blanket. Yes, the spoiled little dog had a blankey. Jaci crossed the hallway to her room but instead packing her things she froze. She looked around her room and sighed heavily.

Five minutes later, Jaci walked back into the livign and annouced, "I'm not going." She sat Vix's duffel of things on the floor and waited for the storm.

Tig frowned. "Excuse me?"

"I'm staying here."

"The fuck you are." Tig spat.

"You said it was safe here."

"FOR NOW!" Tig clarified, "It's safe for NOW."

"Well then I'll set the alarm, I've got smoke alarms too...it'll be fine."

Hap frowned and finally joined the conversatino, "You think an alarm is going to protect you?"

"Do you know how many guns there are in this house, Hap?" She fired back.

"Yeah but would you use them?" Hap retorted. "Guns don't work unless you're man enough to pull the trigger."

Jaci gave him a LOOK. "Ok, THAT's just insulting." She looked to Tig, knowing he knew she had a tougher side to her. "Please tell him I'd pull the trigger."

Tig rolled his eyes but glanced at Hap, "She'd shoot...trust me." He ran his hand through his hair. "Shit...why are you being so fuckin' stubborn on this? Just go plant your ass at Bobby's for the night and be done with this shit."

"Look...this is MY house. Somebody's already ripped away Vix's freakin livelihood, Rachel's too I guess. If something happens to this place, we're screwed, we're HOMELESS." Jaci explained with emotion. "I'm not going to let that happen."

Tig rolled his eyes, "Oh come on, you wouldn't be HOMELESS."

"Really? We supposed to pile up Jax's house or with Gemma? You gonna let us move in with you?"

Tig frowned and stammered, "Well...yeah...I mean...you can HAVE my fuckin' house. I don't give a shit, I'll stay at the clubhouse."

"Forgive me, but your house sucks, Tig. I don't want to live there." Jaci stated bluntly.

He decided to make a sympathy play. "What about Vix? You just gonna leave her alone?"

"She's not ALONE...there's a whole house full of people with her. And in case you haven't noticed, Vix is a bit out of it, she doesn't even know if I'm in the room with her."

"It's easy to be all brave when we're all standing here with all the lights on." Hap interjected in his calm quiet way. "But later...when its dark and you're alone...hear some random noise, think there's somebody in your closet? It's better to be safe than sorry."

"I'm not running and hiding. I'm staying here." Jaci replied and looked at Tig. "You've got two choices, Tig... either you hog tie me and haul my ass kicking and biting over to Bobby's for SAMCRO Day Care OR you stay with me and protect me... HERE."

There was a long stare down between the ex's. Jaci cocked her head. "Well?"

"I'm still thinking about the hog tying option." Tig actually WAS thinking about just how difficult it would be to take Jaci to Bobby's against her will. He finally bent down and grabbed the duffel from the floor and tossed it to Hap. "Take this shit to Bobby's."

Hap cocked an eyebrow. "You want me to come back?"

Tig shook his head. "Naw, I got this."

_**XXX**_

Hap knocked at Bobby's door and waited to be let inside. He sat a duffel bag on the kitchen table "Vix's stuff .. think there's some stuff in there for the mutt, too"

"Where's Jaci? Tig?" 

"Gonna watch her over at her place... she refused to leave."

Bobby rolled his eyes and muttered, "And exactly what do I tell the Devil Cat when she emerges from the bathroom?" He grabbed the bag in a huff and headed down the hall. Knocking on the bathroom door, he called out, "Vix, your clothes and stuff are in a bag outside the door, kiddo."

_**XXX**_

After Tig had walked Happy out, he walked back in the living room and stared at Jaci. She winced, "Look, I'm sorry for putting my foot down or whatever. I have moments of hardheadedness and maybe this isn't the best time for it but I can't help it.

"Moments?" Tig asked with a smirk.

Jaci just shook her head. "If you want to leave that's fine...you of all people shouldn't be stuck with babysitting duty. I'll call Chibs or they can send Hap back."

Tig just looked at her."Nobody MAKES me do anything...you should know that by now."

"Yeah...I guess so." They stood in the living room and stared at each other. She frowned and jerked a thumb back toward her room. "If its ok, I'm gonna grab a quick shower. I'm a smoky, dirty mess."

"It's your house, right? Do whatever you want." He spat back. She gave him an uneasy look but headed down the hall.

"Hey! Is your gun still by the bed? I'll make sure you're locked and loaded." He asked and she hollered back in the affirmative.

_**XXX**_

When Vix finally emerged from the bathroom she was cleaned up and dressed in black lounge pants and a black tank top with the word _Chica_ in hot pink script scrawled across her bosom. Her adrenaline had flat lined in the shower. What little energy she had was now gone. She found the guys in the kitchen and walked in and sat down at the table.

"How ya doin' V?" Hap nodded to her. She shrugged. "Ah, your sister's place is all good. J's gonna stay there... people are watchin' her, she'll be alright."

The guys prepared for a shit-storm response but only got a small "ok" in reply. Hap, Bobby and Chibs just stared at her. She looked so broken, not the normal rambunctious girl they were used to.

Chibs sighed. "Alright lovey, lets do our best at getting' ya patched up, aye?"

_**XXX**_

Tig gave Jaci a few minutes to get the shower running and then walked into her bedroom. He sighed automatically at the familiarity of it and sat down on her side of the bed. He hadn't meant to be so snippy with her, he just wanted her safe. But here she was, playing that Miss Independent bullshit card again. _Why can't a woman just LISTEN? Why's it always gotta be a fuckin' debate?_

He opened the nightstand cabinet and spotted her .40 Beretta handgun on the top shelf. Just as he was about to grab it, something caught his eye on the third shelf, a silver tin. He smiled slightly, knowing that's where she kept lube and condoms and that liquid stuff that got hotter when you blew on it. Part of him wanted to lay back and wander down memory lane for a moment while the other part wanted to open the box and see how many condoms where still there, to check if she had been _busy _since their breakup. He shook his head sharply and tried to focus on the task at hand. He didn't make it a second before his eyes locked on another item, this time on the middle shelf. He frowned, the object wasn't familiar to him.

He reached out and took the book from the cabinet and rolled it over in his hands. For a second he thought it was a Bible, that maybe Jaci had turned holy roller on him. It wasn't an actual book though; he flipped through a couple of pages...it was a journal. His curiosity peaked instantly and he jerked his head to look back at the bathroom door. The shower was still running...hell she might take a while in there, trying to relax and forget the horrible night. He scratched his head and fought with himself over whether or not to start reading the journal. It really wasn't much of a fight. He scanned the pages and snorted. Most of the entries weren't paragraphs of deep thoughts...they were song lyrics. That oddity didn't surprise him at all, Jaci seemed to have music playing at every possible second of her day; in the shower, at the way to work, cooking dinner, at night in the bedroom.

He found her latest entry easily, there was a bookmark sticking up from the pages. He pulled at it and realized it was a photo, actually two photos but they were duplicates. His heart froze as he flipped it over and took a closer look. It was the picture her Aunt Roxy had taken, months earlier when Vix had come on from the hospital after her surgery. He ran his hand over his mouth. The photo was unsettling, it was like looking at ghosts. He and Jaci were standing in her kitchen, staring at each other and smiling. Roxy had been a goddamn ninja with the camera. He lightly touched Jaci's face in the photo and smile sadly. _So fuckin' beautiful. _He thought back to that time, back before Donna, back when he actually had some type of..._hope_ that he and Jaci might be able to work out somehow.

He glanced at the words written in that section of the journal and felt a pang at seeing her handwriting**. **_Heard this today and it hit me hard, wonder if he feels like this?_

HINDER, Better than Me

_I think you can do much better than me  
After all the lies I made you believe  
Guilt kicks in and I start to see  
The edge of the bed  
Where your nightgown used to be_

_I told myself I wouldn't miss you  
But I remember, what it feels like beside you  
I really miss your hair in my face  
And the way your innocence tastes_

_And I think you should know this  
You deserve much better than me_

Suddenly, he couldn't breathe. She got her wish, the lyrics hit him like an A-bomb. He stared at her picture again and then shook his head. _What the fuck have I done to you? _He read the rest of the lyrics and kept coming back to one section.

_Wish I never would've said it's over  
And I can't pretend that I won't think about you when I'm older  
Cause we never really had our closure  
This can't be the end_

The shower stopped abruptly. Tig again jerked his head toward the bathroom. _Shit. _He grabbed one of the copies of the photo and slammed the journal shut. He crammed it back inside the cabinet and snagged her gun. He kicked the cabinet shut with his foot and made a beeline for the bedroom door, tucking the photo into the inside pocket of his cut. He didn't feel a bit of guilt at taking the photo. Either she had made a copy or Roxy had sent her two to begin with...either way, one was meant for him.

_**XXX**_

Chibs stared closely at Vix's arm. "First thing we gotta do is determine tissue damage." He frowned as he made his assessment. "First and second layers of skin are goners. The skin 'round it's red and splotchy and well, ANGRY. Ya got a second degree burn, luv." He shrugged as he held her hand. "It's gonna hurt like a mother, probably swell... definitely blister. But it's small area, you're lucky it was doused, darlin' and didn't keep burnin.'"

Vix didn't respond so Bobby chimed in, "So what do we do?"

"First thing I gotta pick the lint outta the wound, singed bits of her t-shirt sleeve left in will cause a nasty infection then clean it out with sterile water. I think there's some in Tara's kit and grab the ace bandages, toowill ya?" Chibs said as he scooted to get more comfortable in the kitchen chair. "Gonna have to keep cold compresses on it, help the pain and swellin'. Keep it wrapped up, keeps the air off and the blisters from poppin'. Then just give her stuff for the pain and watch her for signs of infection. Might see if the Doc can get her hands on some Vanco or some other antibiotic, it'll kill anything. Get some flowin' in her just in case."

Bobby and Hap just nodded along dumbly, completely impressed with Doctor Chibs.

_**XXX**_

Tig was sitting on the couch, watching TV when Jaci walked back into the living room. He felt a little dumb for bolting out of her bedroom, she had taken the time to blow dry her hair so he had lost a good five minutes of snooping time. She stared at her gun on the ottoman.

"Is that really necessary?" She asked with a worry glance. "I mean...do you think someone is coming after me tonight?"

"Better safe than sorry." Tig shrugged and mimicked Happy from earlier .

"Well fuck 'em. They should have showed up earlier...I'm going to bed." She retorted and then pointed toward the leather storage ottoman. "There's a blanket or two in there. Do you need a pillow?"

Tig grimaced at her, soundlessly saying _Do I look like a NEED a pillow?_

"Ok, well...good night." Jaci crossed her arms nervously. Seeing him so comfortable on her couch was odd. "You really don't have to stay."

"Not up for discussion." Tig replied as he feigned boredom and turned his attention back to the TV. He didn't look at her but pointed to the bedroom. "Go on."

She gave a last glance and headed back down the hallway."Thank you."

"No problem." He quipped as he flipped channels.

_**XXX**_

"Ok, Vixy, got the burn patched up plenty good… now, let me have a gander at these cuts and whatnot." Chibs carefully turned Vix's arm and eyed the damage. He glanced over at Bobby who was seated in the chair next to Vix and at Happy who was leaning up against the kitchen counter. "Some of 'em are deep… probably need stitches, but I'll try just butterflyin' 'em." Chibs frowned and warned, "Glass shards in a few of em too. Gotta extract the shards, luv."

Vix sat staring off into the distance, the voices of the men there with her seemed muffled, almost as if she was under water listening to them speaking at her from above the surface. When she tried to respond she choked and was momentarily stunned, _was she under water?_ Something was burning in her chest… she felt water on her face. She looked down and realized she was sitting at a table, saw drops of water splashing on the wood grain surface. _I__t's raining? Inside? _As she stared at the drop, it seemed to rain harder. Her vision was suddenly blurred by it but then she realized she was crying, not sobbing but a steady flow of tears. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to get a grip. She needed to staunch the tears. _I'm NOT going to have a breakdown… not here, not now, not in front of these men. To them, I'm bad-ass Vix Parker. I OWN that. Calm yourself the fuck down and turn off this stupid internal rain storm! _

Hap eyed Chibs and the Scot eyed Bobby. All three shot uneasy glances at the youngest Parker sister. All three trying to figure the best way to handle the storm they watched approaching, and all were shocked when just as it was set to reach it's fever pitch, it subdued. Vix, lost in her shock, had managed to regain some degree of control over herself. She stifled the sobs, got the waterworks reigned in and appeared to look a little less distraught. When she requested a drink of water, in a voice barely above a whisper, the men simultaneously drew somewhat easier breaths.

"Here drink this." Hap sat a tumbler of Jack Daniels in front of her. "Better than water." She stared at the glass then grabbed it and downed the contents.

She glanced over at Chibs, and with a sigh and a nod said, "Fix me."

"Aye." The Scotsman said with a warm smile.

_**XXX**_

Tig waited almost a half hour before walking down the hall to check on her. Jaci had left her bedroom door open and he stood silently in the dark doorway, staring toward her bed. Her ceiling fan was the only noise in the room, well aside from her slamming her head against the pillows. "Still awake?"

"Fuck yes." She grumbled. "Thanks to Hap putting visions of boogeymen in my closet, I can't sleep."

Tig snorted a laugh. "You're not scared, you're pissed off. That brain of yours is problem red-lining worrying about shit, plotting revenge and running rebuild numbers." When she didn't argue, he offered, "You wanna a shot or something? Couple drinks would settle you down."

She hesitated for a second. "Can't, I quit drinking."

Tig frowned in her direction. "When?"

"Couple weeks ago." She decided to answer the question mostly honestly. "I was getting pretty stupid with it. Figured I'd quit while I was ahead. I mean when you're having a shot of vodka every morning with breakfast, its a problem, right?"

He was a bit taken off guard by her confession. "Yeah... guess so." He thought for a moment. "Well...if drinking's out, that leaves drugs and I doubt you have anything worth a damn here so that leaves force. I could wrap you up in a choke hold till you passed out."

"Only YOU would suggest that. No thanks." Jaci replied. "Be my luck you'd give me brain damage. I'll just keep doing what I'm doing."

"Suit yourself." He answered and walked back to the living room.

_**XXX**_

Chibs finished with mending Vix's cuts. "All done, luv. Ya were a perfect patient darling."

"Thanks." Vix replied in a monotone drone. "Is it supposed to be throbbing?" She nodded towards the bandaged up burn.

"Aye, it's gonna hurt like a mother, luv, sorry" Chibs grabbed a medicine bottle of the table. "Bobby won't miss a coupla Oxy-ies." He twisted off the cap and deposited two pills in Vix's palm. She popped them in her mouth and washed them down with a swig of Jack Daniels.

Hap eyed her. "Don't think you shoulda mixed _Oxycontin_ with alcohol... it intensifies the effect."

She smirked at him, "I sure as hell hope so." She stood up from the chair she'd been sitting in way too long and her legs sorta buckled. She grabbed the table for support and then makes her way slowly into the living room.

The door leading to the backyard opened and Bobby and Spawn entered. "Where's Vix?"

"All patched up, headed into the living room. She'll be good for a few hours then she'll need that bandage swapped out for a fresh one." Chibs informed. "Pain is wearin' through the shock. Gave her a coupla your Oxy, didn't think you'd mind."

"A couple?" Bobby questioned.

"Aye, gave her two."

"TWO? What's she weigh? A buck-twenty?"

"Two is a perfectly acceptable amount." Chibs muttered, defending his decision.

"Maybe for Keith Richards." Bobby chided and then stared at him. "Fuck me...this is gonna be like the pool party all over again!"

Chibs and Hap exchanged confused frowns, as far as they recalled the pool party a few months back had been awesome and no one had OD'd. Hap asked the obvious question "Pool party? What happened at the pool party?"

"Never mind." Bobby snuck a peek into his living room and found Vix curled up on his sofa, holding Spawn and flipping through his cable rotation. Bobby's cell phone rang. "Hey Piney...mmm hmm… yeah, I have no idea… sounds like it… yeah, as good as can be expected I guess… yeah… will do."

He closed the phone and slipped it back in his pocket with a shake of his head.

"What the old man want?" Chibs questioned.

Bobby shrugged, "Not a clue, unless you can explain why a certain _brother _of ours would holler _**Fuck the Fringes**_ before storming out of the clubhouse."

Chibs raised an eyebrow with a smirk on his face, "Aye… I think he's had his fill of taken advice from the likes of us. Gonna handle his shit his own way from here on in."

Bobby sighed. "Wonderful… let's just add a ring to the circus this day has turned into."

_**XXX**_

Just prior at the SAMCRO clubhouse…

Piney looked over at the kid and felt for him. He sat down the glass in front of him and sighed, "Ya know… I lied.. to you when I said I didn't know how to help fix this shit, 'tween you and Vix."

From the bar stool beside him, Juice groaned, "Everybody is SO full of advice now… when it's too late for me to help save her from getting hurt. No one wanted to help yesterday before everything went to shit."

Piney stared at the young biker with a sarcastic frown on his face. "Ya done? Ya gonna listen? Cause I'm an old man, not real keen on wasting the breaths I got left."

"Yeah, shoot… can't hurt right?"

"Wrong… it's gonna hurt. Love's an extension of life and life sucks a majority of the time. The way I see it all your shit started when the WOOSH went out."

"The _WOOSH_?" Juice eyed the old man with an eyebrow raised in question.

"The WOOSH" Piney nodded and sputtered and motioned with his hands. "All that crazy shit in the beginning…"

Juice chuckled despite his dark mood as the old man continued. "But that ain't LOVE, son. That's LUST and that don't ever last. LOVE is a choice you make to BE THERE despite of all the bullshit life tosses at ya. You do it because loving somebody and having them love ya back… well, that makes this world we live in a little less wretched, hmmm?" Piney pointed his finger at Juice. "And that choice ain't always easy cause life can whip up some shit storms, let me tell ya. I've held the franchise, learned the hard way there ain't no perfect love. Nobody is perfect on their own so thinkin' that two of ya will suddenly be perfect because you're together… well that's just.. ah.. mmm."

"Retarded?" Juice offered.

"Yeah, that works." Piney chuckled. "What I was saying… if you can get past all the that and still manage to love the person… that's the true path but, most can't get past the bullshit."

Juice sat listening once again, in shock once again, to wisdom from an unlikely source. Piney shook his head, drained the glass in front of him then grabbed the bottle and helped himself to a bit more. He poured a helping into Juice's glass, too. He chuckled when the kid eyed him. "Little liquid courage never hurt."

"Courage to help me fix my shit." Juice replied but whether in question or statement, Piney was not sure.

The old man took a hit of oxygen and stared off at some focal point that only he could see. "Real lasting love is hard to find… and hard to hold onto." Piney shrugged. "But then anything of real value usually is, right?" He stared at Juice. "Did anything I say sink in, son?"

Juice nodded "I think so."

Piney chuckled, "So what are YOU gonna do about it?"

Juice looked over at the club's oldest member and annouced, "Fuck the Fringes!" In a split second he was on his feet and storming out of the clubhouse on a mission, for the second time tonight, to set things right with Vix, and heaven help anyone who tried to stop him.

Picking up the glass in front of him, Piney raised it in the air, toast fashion. "FUCK THE FRINGES!" He laughed and shook his head before downing the amber liquid…

_**XXX**_

Jaci lasted ten minutes before she padded into the living room and sat down on the L section of the sofa. Tig was lounged in the corner of the sectional. "Stupid fucker." He mumbled as he watched something on TV with the sound nearly off, better to hear the boogeymen with. "Mindless TV...that'll put you to sleep." He said without looking at her.

She turned her head and saw that he was watching Bait Car, a reality show where cops caught idiot criminals stealing cars. "Wow, more flashing lights, that's exactly what I want to see right now." She said sarcastically.

He was nice and flipped stations for a minute, finally landing on old Jackass reruns. After a few minutes of her watching TV and him watching her, he stretched out more on the couch and scooted over toward the wall. He tapped his chest. "Come here." She gave him a wary look. He sighed, "You're not gonna fall sleep sitting up...lay down and relax."

She was reluctant but a huge part of her WANTED to be close to him. She knew without a doubt he wasn't going to be an asshole tonight, he had had too many chances so far and had not done anything offensive. There was a time and a place for their tiffs and tonight wasn't it. She stared at him and he stared back. She sighed and relented, crawling over to the space he had made for her and settling in next to him with her head resting in the crook of his arm. _Ok, I'll lay down...for just a minute but there's no way I'm gonna RELAX._

He knew holding her was a dangerous idea but couldn't help himself. He glanced down at her and found himself staring on the tops of her breasts. _God bless tank tops. _But in all seriousness, the photo of them he had stolen felt like it was burning against his chest in the pocket of his cut. His head was spinning with nostalgia and was hoping she would settle down and fall alseep, that he would get to hold her for a while.

Her brain just wouldn't quiet down. She watched one more prank before letting the floodgates of inquisition open, starting with the Million Dollar Question. "So who did it? And don't bullshit me, say you don't know. What do you really think?"

Tig sighed. _Here we go. So much for calming down. _He shrugged and gave the obvious answer. "We torched one of Darby's meth labs the other day."

"But Darby _helped _Vix. If he was trying to hurt her, why would he do that?"

"So now you're a Darby fan?"

"Well no...I don't know, nothing's making sense." Jaci blew out a breath. "My next guess is that Zoebel guy...I mean they're all wrapped up together right? That night at Bobby's party, Hoover was with them. And you guys beat their asses today. Maybe Vix and I aren't as independent as we thought. They associate US with SAMCRO...and our shit gets burnt?"

"That's where my money's at." Tig replied.

Jaci clenched her jaw. "I wouldn't mind if you set Hoover on fire."

Tig laughed slightly and squeezed the top of her shoulder. "Consider it done."

She kept on talking a mile a minute, about the fire, about Vix, about Hale. Tig was having a hard time concentrating on what all she was saying. He just kept staring at her hip and how her tank top had pulled up slightly, revealing skin. If she would just shut up and go to sleep he could have his hand on that spot for the whole night. When she started in on insurance policy jargon he stopped her. "If you don't shut up, you're never gonna sleep."

She frowned and tapped his chest with her hand, "I know but what about ..."

"Jaci, SHUT UP!" He said with half a laugh. _Goddamnit, she's like the Energizer Bunny. _He needed her to shut up for both their sakes. She needed to sleep and he needed the chance to spend the rest of the night with his arm wrapped around her. Only way to do it was to shock her or piss her off but doing that would make her get up. Maybe he could just threaten her into silence. "Open your mouth again and I'm shoving something in it."

He hadn't planned on actually DOING anything but she made the mistake of looking up and smiling at him. Not a sad smile that seemed to be her norm around him these days, but a full force grin...like the one in the picture.

"Oh yeah? What are you...?" Jaci started to tease without thinking.

He grabbed her face with his hand and slammed his mouth against hers. She tried to pull back but he held her in place for a second. When he broke the kiss, they stared at each other, both with surprised looks. Rather quickly the shock melted into something a bit different and Tig leaned in and kissed her again. He started slowly and just like old times with her, half expecting her to stop him but she kissed him back instead.

_**XXX**_

"Why don't you two get outta here?" Bobby suggested to Chibs and Hap.

"Don't know, brother... thought the plan was protect the Parkers?" Chibs questioned.

"Between me and the inbound MC Romeo, we got this shit. I'm positive daylight is gonna bring with it a whole 'nother round of shit... so why don't you two go relax at the club house? I'm plannin' on planting my ass in my Barcolounger and tryin' to catch a few z's myself."

"Aye, alright brother, ring us if you need anything." Chibs said as he and Hap headed for the door.

_**XXX**_

Tig swallowed hard as his heart started to pound a little faster. He kissed her while holding her head in his hands, his fingers in her hair. He couldn't believe it was happening, didn't give a shit if it was a good decision or a bad one. He just _wanted _her. He had pushed himself down further on the couch but couldn't get close enough to her with her lying on her back. He pulled back from her for a second and grabbed her hips, yanking her to the right, closer to the corner of the sectional so he could get on top of her. She didn't protest a bit, just looked up at him with nervous but lustful eyes.

Jaci knew she should slam the brakes on what was going on with Tig but she couldn't. She squeezed her eyes shut and relished the weight of his body on her. He kissed her a bit harder but she didn't mind. He had his hands all over her now, they jumped from one spot to another, her face, her neck, her breasts. As he kissed her neck and then bit her collarbone slightly, she tried to catch her breath. She held onto the back of his head and pulled at him, kissing him. Nothing during this night had made sense, why should this be any different?

He felt her hands slide under his shirt and then along his lower back. He decided to help her out and raised up slightly. He quickly undid two more buttons on his shirt and pulled it and his cut off in one fluid motion and tossed them to the opposite side of the sofa. He nodded at her and she did the same to her tank top. Seeing that much of her skin undid him. He laid back down on top of her and kissed her more urgently. His right hand slid along her torso and he pushed himself up against her a little roughly. He was rock hard and ready to go. She moaned and ground her hips upward as she grabbed a hold of his pec muscles and squeezed. She'd always had a thing for his chest.

"Goddamn I've missed you." She mumbled. He grunted and kissed her again. She breathed in his ear, "Wasn't supposed to miss you."

"I know...I know." He mumbled and hated himself for every second of hurt he had ever caused her. And in that moment he wanted to make her feel better, to take her pain away, the pain of the night, the months of bullshit with him, everything. "I'm sorry." He breathed and covered her mouth with his.

After a few moments more of kissing and grinding, Tig couldn't wait anymore. He leaned his head down into the couch next to her head and balanced his weight there as he lifted his body off her. He moved up long enough to use both his hands to pull her lounge pants off her hips along with her panties. A slight gasp escaped her lips. He wasn't sure if the moved surprised her or if she was just having a hard time breathing. He knew his pulse was thumping pretty hard.

He buried his face against the side of hers and swallowed hard. "Can't wait..." Still holding his weight off the top of her he unbuckled his jeans. He leaned on his left shoulder and slid two fingers along her clit, needing to touch her. "Fuck you're wet." He whispered. As soon as his fingers touched her, Jaci pushed up against him, wanting him inside her as fast as possible. He slid one finger inside of her and she moaned loudly. A lustful grin spread across his face. "Oh fuck yeah...you're ready."

He pushed his boxers and jeans down on his hips with Jaci helping him frantically. Jaci was pretty proud of herself for not coming already. Chibs had damn near made her pop on the back porch just by dry humping her. She was floored that Tig, the man she _actually_ wanted, was all over her and she had manged to hold it together. He kissed her again and pushed himself inside of her without any pretense. He felt her tense up and she let out a slight whimper. She had tried to choke it down but he had heard it.

He knew he was on the bigger side of the scale but she hadn't had any problems with him since their first few times together. He pushed into her as far as he could, he was too worked up to take it easy. After a few pumps, she must have gotten used to him because she was digging her nails into his back. For Jaci, the pain had taken a lightening quick shift to pleasure. He felt her relax underneath him and picked up his pace slightly. He watched her close eyes and whisper, "Shit...it's good, it's good."

Hearing her voice again, telling him she wanted him, was better than a thousand Crow eaters talking dirty. He grunted as she shifted her hips underneath him and he somehow slid in deeper. He was just about to tell her to open her eyes when she stared up at him. Their bodies were hard pressed together, neither wanting to break any type of contact. They locked eyes for a moment then he stretched to get one of his arms underneath her back and shoulder for better leverage. He gripped her hip with his other hand and switched to long hard strokes, trying to draw out the release for her. It worked like a charm because Jaci started to moan louder and panted her words. "Ah ah ah…oh fuck."

"Come on…come on." Tig breathed as he fucked her and watched her losing control. Finally she was screaming and he felt her muscles tighten around his dick as she came. "Ahhh fuuuuck!" She yelled and grabbed his shoulders as hard as she could.

He growled as he slammed into her a few more times. He shut his eyes, feeling himself creep up on the edge. Usually it took him longer to come but not tonight. Too much need, too much want. He moved his hand up her back and grabbed a fistful of her long hair. "Goddammit." He breathed through clenched teeth and held himself in place as he came inside her. His hips pumped involuntarily a few times with aftershocks and he opened his eyes. He swallowed hard and tried to catch his breath. He looked down at Jaci, who was biting her lip.

_**XXX**_

Bobby glanced over at Vix. The only way he knew she was still awake was that her breathing was erratic, not steady like it would be otherwise. She was staring in the direction of the TV, but given the darkness of the room and what she could possibly be seeing through the huge-ass sunglasses she'd returned from the bathroom sporting, Bobby had not a clue. At the sound of a Harley approaching the house, he reached down and pushed his chair's spring lever lowering the footrest and got to his feet. With a backwards glance at Vix, who remained motionless on the sofa, he trudged to the front door.

_**XXX**_

As Tig laid on top of Jaci with her looking up at him, there was surely 'the right thing to say' at that moment but he didn't have a clue what it was. He pulled out of her and sat back against the couch with a thud. The second he moved away from her, Jaci was up and making a beeline for the bathroom in the hallway.

She cleaned up and stood naked in the bathroom, holding her face in her hands. _Oh shit...did that really just happen? You fuckin' idiot! Why did you lay down on the damn couch? You knew better than to do that! Damnit this is bad...isn't it? _Jaci decided to stay holed up in the bathroom until she could figure out how the hell to fix the mess she had just landed herself in.

XXX

From where she sat on the sofa, Vix heard the hushed exchange between Bobby and Juice...

"_Are you here to heal or hurt?"_

"_I wouldn't hurt her, Bobby"_

"_Not intentionally... but you have to admit you've been all over the board lately. Last time you tried to work shit out... do I have to rehash what you said went down after the Grand Opening?"_

"_Are you gonna let me in or do I have to pull a SAY ANYTHING moment and wake up all your neighbors?"_

"_Mmmmmm... fine. But she's a fuckin' mess and Chibs fed her enough Oxy to kill Keith Richards. I have serious doubts about my own sanity even letting you NEAR her right now."_

She heard their heavy footsteps and then they suddenly stopped. She glanced over at the entrance to the room, strained to see in the darkness, thru the sunglasses and her totally brutalized eyes. She saw Juice had stopped short of entering the room. For a minute she wondered if he'd changed his mind, decided not to try then she noticed it was Bobby, with a hand on Juice's shoulder that was holding him back. She heard Bobby mutter, "Choose your words carefully, brother. If you fuck up this time, there ain't NO fixin' it."

_**XXX**_

Tig knocked on the bathroom door a few minutes later with her discarded clothes piled in his arms. "You want your stuff?" He asked with his head resting against the closed door. He was amazed how something so good could turn so bad in the blink of an eye. Well granted, fucking his ex on her couch given tonight's circumstances had probably technically been a BAD thing but it damn sure had felt GOOD.

Jaci stared at the door for an eternity, not sure what to do. She finally opened the door just a crack, shielding her body with it and stared out at him. He still had his shirt off and stood just in his jeans and boots. She bit her lip."Are you leaving?"

He shook his head and pushed the door open more while he craned his neck to look her up and down, he hadn't gotten to see much of her on the couch, it had been dark and they had been in too much of a rush. She busted his stare and tried to push the door shut but he held it open. "A little late to be shy. Just...come out of there...let's go to bed."

"Where are you sleeping?"

He shrugged, "With you?"

She didn't know how she felt about that but knew she didn't feel like fighting about it or discussing it right now. She took her clothes from him but didn't dress, just silently walked down the hall to her room. He took her lack of protest as acceptance and did a quick last check of the house, flipped off the TV, and grabbed her gun. When he got to her room, she was already under the covers in bed. He walked around to 'his' side of the bed, laid the gun on the nightstand, and shucked off the rest of his clothes. She reached over and turned off the lamp, enveloping the room in darkness. He slid under the covers naked and they laid silent without touching for a few minutes, both of them thinking about the implications of the night. He knew she would never make the first move so he reached out and pulled her close to him.

With her body intertwined with his and her head on his chest, he finally got up the nerve to say something. He knew she needed to hear some kind of truth from him and frankly he needed to admit a few things to himself. These last few months had been bullshit, his running around doing whatever it took to forget her ...nothing had worked. All that running and looked where they had ended up. He breathed deeply then spoke very quietly, "If something would have happened to you tonight..." His voice trailed off, he couldn't even finish the sentence.

Jaci squeezed his hand that she held across his torso. "I know." They didn't say anything else to each other, both fine with just letting it be for the night. She had a million things to say to him, to ask him but she pushed it down. She trailed her fingers over his chest as he rubbed his hand along her arm absently. After a while they finally drifted off to sleep.

_**XXX**_

From where they stood at the entrance to his living room, Bobby and Juice watched as Vix stood up and walked out of the room and into the kitchen.

"She hasn't moved from that spot for so long, I was worried she'd become rooted." With a slight shove to Juice's back, Bobby reminded his friend, "KID GLOVES, Romeo."

Juice crossed the living room in a few long strides and entered the kitchen. Behind him, Bobby re-parked his ass in his Barcolounger, picked up his bowl of popcorn and unpaused his Elvis movie.

Vix stood facing away from Juice and stared at the cupboard. "Why'd you stay away?"

"Hmmm?" Juice had been so busy soaking in the sight of her that he'd missed her words. He watched her turn and face him.

"Tonight... why'd you stay away? Everytime I looked over I saw you watching me. I recognized the look in your eyes, haven't seen it in a while... missed it. I kept thinking you'd come over... I waited for you to but you didn't. Why?"

"The guys told me it was probably better if I kept my distance."

"Vix's mouth twitched. "Mmmm, you gonna keep listenin' to your bros?"

"No." He looked at her directly and shook his head.

She nodded. "Good move. I'm glad you're here."

"Me too."

_**XXX**_

Bobby shifted slightly in his recliner, he'd been feigning sleep for the last half hour.. He knew should be more ashamed than he felt about eavesdropping on the quiet conversational exchange taking place between Vix and Juice, seated on his sofa a few feet away. But in his mind, he justified his actions by telling himself he was assigned the task of protecting Vix from more hurt, and he would ... even if it was from Juice. Because between the shock and devastation over the fire, getting literally and figuratively burned, the joint he'd rolled her, the Jack Daniels Happy had kept flowing, and the Oxycontin that Chibs had fed her... Bobby wasn't too sure Vix was in the proper mindset to be making life decisions. Thankfully, the conversation so far had been an apology from Juice and when it seemed like Vix was on the verge of an acceptance, the pup whined.

"I gotta put him out." Vix mumbled and stood up. "Come on, baby."

When both Juice and Spawn took steps to follow her from the room Bobby had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from chuckling. Vix turned around and clarified, "Um, I was talking to Spawn but I guess you can come along... if you want." Bobby covered his snort of laughter with a fake snore.

_**XXX**_

Bobby finally realized that the trio had been outside way longer than necessary. Spawn was an indecisive little pooch about doing his business but he wasn't THAT picky. Bobby realized that he was likely missing out on very significant parts of the conversation. _SHIT! _ He scrambled out of the recliner and wandered into the kitchen, leaving the overhead light off, the small light on the exhaust fan over he stove would have been sufficient even if he didn't know his home like the back of his hand.. He listened hard at the door and could hear muffled bits of an intense conversation between the pair standing on his back porch. He heard a mix of emotions in Vix's voice and squelched his first reaction to bust out outside. The words that wafted in stopped him.

Outside, Vix shook her head."I've been standing there... on the ledge, Juice. This tiny little strip of shaky ground is all that's keeping me out of this like huge swirling abyss. And I can see you there now, too...and just like now you're holding your hand out to me. I want to grab hold but that can go two ways, Juice. I take your hand and you pull me back and we land on solid ground, safe and secure. OR I latch on and we both fall, both crash down into crazy darkness."

When he heard her choke up, Bobby sighed and ran his hands over his face. He placed his hand on the door knob ready to turn it. But when he heard Juice's reply, he tiptoed away and decided to call it a night. The Retard Romeo and his wayward Juliet would be just fine.

Juice held Vix's hand in his. "Doesn't matter... no look, don't shake your head. Listen to me! It doesn't matter because you know why? Cause even if we fall into that abyss or whatever, I'll keep your head above the water. I promise...I won't let you drown."

He had wanted Vix back in his arms for so long, yet the instant it happened he was so shocked a swift wind could have knocked him over. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. Her shoulders were quaking and her breath was choppy. Seeing her like this was heart-wrenching. Seing a strong woman approach rock bottom was a very hard thing for the man who loves her to witness. When she finally composed herself a bit, she pulled away, although reluctantly.

She stepped back and looked at him, "I think we fell, Juice. I feel like I'm drowning. I.. I..don't know what to do. Could you just lay with me, hold me? I.. I don't think I can handle much more than that, not right now. But I know I can't make it alone anymore."

Juice nodded and led her back inside. Holding her was the least he could do and was the exact thing he wanted.

"Bobby said the guest room is the third door on the left." Vix whispered as she followed Juice up the darkened hallway.

He opened the door and flipped on the light and they both stopped in their tracks. "Are you fucking kidding me?" Juice said with slight amusement.

Vix stared at the twin sized bunk beds. "He does have kids."

Juice just nodded and walked over, kicking off his boots and shrugging out of his cut. He placed it on the dresser next to the bed and then unchained his wallet, laying it and his gun next to his cut on the dresser. He turned and watched as Vix tried to position herself and still leave room for him in the dumbass little bottom bunk bed.. He saw Spawn leap onto the bed and ceremoniously curl up next to her. The little pooch was not too happy when she picked him up and put him at the foot of the bed..

Juice attempted to not whack his head as he crawled in next to her. The mattress was uncomfortable as hell and the tiny bed was not made for two grown-ass people and a dog But truth be told, he would have laid on a bed of nails and not bitched too much, just to make Vix feel happy and safe.

After a whole lot of positioning, they got somewhat comfortable. She was plastered to his side, half laying on top of him next to the wall. Having her so close was a comfort and a curse. He was a guy after all and to keep his thoughts away from the carnal he was running DOS code through his mind. Holding Vix felt as natural to him as breathing. The feel of her, the scent of her brought a flash flood of memories.

"Baby, do you have your phone on you? I left mine in the living room, I think. I need music to fall asleep." Vix said quietly.

"If you can reach my left hand jeans pocket."

She retrieved his iPhone and flipped thru the screens until she got to the iTunes App. She hit random play but the song that played sent chills down both their spines, Snow Patrol, Chasing Cars.

_If I lay here.. if I just lay here, would you lay with me and just forget the world_ ...

**TBC**

_**Ok fans...we just gave you what you've been clamoring for! Show us some review love!**_


	14. Chapter 11Reach out & touch someone

**Walk Away from the Son****  
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SoA  
Chapter 11- Reach out and touch someone**

**By BG and Reaper**

_Sorry to make you guys wait so long for this chapter. Thanks so much for the reviews and the emails prodding us to hurry the hell up! _

_**XXX**_

Most of Hueytown, Alabama was still fast asleep but that was not the case at Parker Place South. Roxy wandered out of the opened front door and onto the porch; she spotted BB sitting on the bottom step. He was smoking a cigarette and rubbing the back of his head with his hand. He heard the porch creak and knew his wife was coming to check on him. Without turning around he assured her, "The girls are ok. You should go back to bed, baby."

"Charming." Roxy said quietly and blew out a breath. When his cell phone had rang, her brain hadn't been sure but her heart had known. "No call at four-thirty in the morning that's got you slippin' out to the front porch can be good. What's goin' on?"

BB remained silent and stared down their driveway.

"I will NOT be placated, Billy. The girls are ok...fine. But _something_ has happened...spill it."

"Someone set fire to Vix's salon."

"SWEET LORD!" She gasped and turned to run back inside.

"HEY! Stay put goddamnit!" BB twisted around and yelled to keep his wife on the porch and safely away from her cellphone. "The girls are in no mood to be talking to you right now. That was Jax that called, said they've got a handle on the situation. Trying to get the girls calmed down and settled for the night. You can call in the morning."

Roxy crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her husband. He seldom ever told her no but she knew by the tone in his voice now that he'd rip a cellphone out of her hands if she tried to ignore his order. She sighed and gritted her teeth. "Ok...fine. Are they are ok? _Really_ ok? Don't you lie to me."

"Vix burned her arm a bit trying to get back inside to put the fire out but its MINOR." He related the details that he had gotten from Jax...well _some _of the details.

BB was still seated but now twisted at the waist to stare at his wife. He looked up at her and could see the wheels turning in her head. "NO! We are NOT going back to Charming so get that thought right out of your pretty little head. We can't afford to go running out there everydamntime one of the girls has a crisis. Crisis seem to happen on a goddamn daily basis."

"This is not a flat tire or somethin',Billy! Someone blew up Vix's place up, almost killed her!"

"She burned her ARM. Just calm down, baby. I know how you're feelin', I do. But Jax assured me the people who did it will be dealt with. That's a directive straight from Clay and we're by God gonna follow it." BB turned back around and stretched out his legs, grumbling. "The girls decided to move way the fuck there. I think we need to hack off the apron strings. SAMCRO'll watch over em, make it right."

"SAMCRO's half their damn problem." Roxy hissed and glared at the back of his head.

"Watch it." He warned lightly. The moments clicked by and he waited for her to come sit down by him but that didn't happen. He finally grunted and stood up, tossing his hands in the air. "Look baby, the girls ain't moving back here... we ain't movin' out there. I can't change geography so what the fuck you want me to do? I've got the president of the mother charter tellin' me to sit tight and let them handle it. It happened on THEIR turf, my hands are tied. So tell me how you want me to fix this?"

"I guess you can't." Roxy replied and stormed off back into the house. She missed her girls like crazy on a daily basis. The thought of them dealing with this latest crisis alone, without her, ate at her immediately.

"You stay off that phone! I MEAN IT, ROXANNE!" BB yelled. All he received in response was a dramatic slamming of the front door. "Goddamnit!" He yelled and chucked his pack of cigarettes into the yard. He blew out a frustrated breath and pinched the bridge of his nose.

BB had been trying to hide his true worry about the girls from his wife. Roxy loved those girls fiercely and if he had shown one ounce of panic about their situation she would have been driving them to the airport immediately. He may have pissed off his wife, but at least he had put up a convincing front.

Jax had told him Clay and the guys were handling everything but he didn't have the warm and fuzzies about the situation. He couldn't believe this next thought had crossed his mind, but he would honestly feel better about things if Vix was still with Juice and Jaci had still been wrapped up with that crazy assed SAA. Then the club would have a direct reason to protect and avenge his girls. Sure, they were Abel's aunts and he was their uncle and that gained them probably enough clout but he worried about them just being an afterthought...or worse yet, a pain in the ass to the club.

He groaned and ran his hands over his face. _**No good can come to a Parker in Charming**_...that had been his mantra since 1988 when his brother and his old lady had moved the girls to California. That move had been the beginning of the end for JJ and Dawn, BB had seen it coming a mile away. He had went with them and stayed awhile but then packed up and head for home back in Bama. There was hardly a day that past that he didn't regret not taking Wendy, Jaci and Vix back with him.

Every time they would talk about it, Roxy would assure him he had no guilt to carry. That those mistakes were on JJ, not him but the truth of the matter was everything had always been on HIS shoulders. The survival of the Bama charter, the survival of the Parker family, seein' after the girls...all that was BB's lot. JJ had always been the one to start shit and then walk away. BB was the one that would come in and fix, stabilize, and maintain. It was a heavy load to carry and no one knew the real stress of it all because he didn't complain about it, he just put his head down and DID IT. Over the years, that attitude had garnered him a reputation and whenever shit hit the fan everyone looked to him, knowing he'd come up with some brilliant plan to FIX IT and make everything better.

But carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders was hard and eventually you were gonna break, it happened to everyone no matter how tough you tried to be and that was what worried him right now. Jaci, bless her heart, was just damn like him. Having semi-worthless parents had made her grow up fast and she had turned into the responsible one at a young age. All the summers she had spent down in Bama with him and Roxy had just solidified her tendency to take charge. She had watched BB closely, seeing how he always had an answer for everything, a solution to every problem. BB smiled as he remembered one summer when the girls had gotten themselves in a jam. Jaci had arrived at a mind boggling brilliant solution and when he asked how she thought of doing that she had grinned proudly and said, "I just thought _What would BB do?_...and then I did that."

The salon being torched was gonna test the limits of Jaci's patience and her fixin' skills. BB worried that with all the shit she'd had dealt with since being back in Charming, the fire might be the straw that broke the camel's back. He looked back over the dark yard and let his hands hang between his legs. He wondered, when the inevitable happened, what Jaci's _descent into hell_, would look like. Hell, his little snap all those years ago had damn near cost him his marriage. He snorted a laughed when he remembered that Jaci, of all people, had been the one to save it.

Back in the early nineties, the Bama charter had fallen on stressful times. There was heat from a few other Southern MCs and the Sons had even gotten into some trouble with the Klan; a few of the 'Bama crew had went to jail. BB was up to his eyeballs with worry and to make matters worse, his construction company had hit a low point. He had started drinking too much, staying at the clubhouse too often and too late and had committed a big no-no...he had taken up with a 'B_ama Lamb_, Alabama's version of a CrowEater. Now all old ladies knew that stuff happened on the road and there was a certain level of shit that club wives were expected to over look and Roxy begrudgingly held to those 'rules'. What she didn't hold to was BB carrying on with that bullshit in their own backyard. BB hadn't just been fuckin' around...he had been _seein' _that sweetbutt. In his mind, that girl was a reality break, he headed to her place and didn't have to think about all the shit going on in his life, he just went to her, got drunk, got high and forgot about it all. That was until Roxy found about it. Hueytown was a small place and no matter how hard the guys in the MC tried to cover for him and just waited for him to come back around to his old self, Roxy had gotten wind of the real reason for his detachment from her.

They had had a vicious screaming match that had culminated with Roxy leaving his ass. They had been split up for several months when it was time for Jaci and Vix to make their annual summer visit, Wendy always opted to stay at home. As soon as school would let out in Charming, JJ would pack up the girls and ship them down to Alabama and not just for a week or two. The girls would spend the entire summer there but BB and Roxy didn't mind a bit, they looked forward to the visit all year, counted down the days. The girls enjoyed the hell out of themselves while down there, free from the drama of their everyday home life. That summer, BB had a decision to make. Technically, HE was their blood relation, if he had wanted to be an asshole he wouldn't have had to even let Roxy see the girls. But those girls had demanded to spend time with Aunt Rox and BB was not going to deny them.

Even though they were headed straight for divorce, they tried to make the summer happy for the girls. Jaci and Vix split their time at different places, staying a few days with BB and then heading to Roxy's place. BB had used the time to pull his head out of his ass; he had dropped the sweetbutt and the girls had ended up being his saving grace. He shamelessly used the girls as an excuse to be around Roxy, to try to work his way back to her. He had gotten Roxy to go with him to take the girls on a few fishing and camping trips, always adding, "but the girls want you to go."

The summer ended and the girls had went back to Charming and it hurt a million times worse for BB that year. The girls were gone along with his excuse for spending time with Roxy, but after a month of silence he worked up the nerve to ask her to dinner and she surprised the hell out of him by accepting. That night, while eating from a fried catfish buffet, Roxy told him the reason she had accepted his invitation. She recalled a chat with Jaci before the barely-teen had headed back to California. _'Aunt Rox...I don't know what all happened with Uncle BB and I know I'm only 13 but I've already learned a very important lesson in my life.' Roxy had looked at her niece with amusement, 'Oh yeah? What lesson's that, baby?' J had looked her in the eye and said, 'Boys are stupid. They're easily distracted and they don't THINK things through and they screw up ALOT. And honestly...they need female supervision. But BB's better than most boys, Rox...he's damn near perfect but everybody screws up sometimes. He usually fixes everything but I think this time HE needs you to fix him. Or he needs another chance to fix ya'll himself.' _

Roxy had listened to her niece and together her and BB had worked things out. It hadn't been easy, in fact it had been horribly painful but in the end, they had put the past behind them and had never looked back. He had never thanked Jaci for helping him get Roxy back...maybe he would one day.

BB sighed and stood up, knowing he needed to grab a couple hours of sleep. When morning light broke, Roxy would have that phone in her hand and drama would be crackling over the phone lines. He looked up at the blanket of stars in the black Alabama sky and prayed for Jaci to be strong and for Vix to be smart.

"Oh shit...Vix." He muttered and smiled. If Jaci was like him, Vix was the antithesis…although she tried hard to pattern herself after Roxy… it was an up-hill struggle. That girl had a heapin' helpin' of Jesse James Parker runnin' through her veins… sharp tongued, quick witted and even quicker to fight. With the fire, Jaci would be looking for a solution, Vix would be looking for revenge.

Maybe if he got lucky, they would balance each other out and stay out of trouble. If not...his ass would probably be on a plane to Charming with his wife a half step behind him. He shook his head and pulled open the front door, he figured he best sleep on the couch.

_**XXX**_

Early that morning in Charming, Marti steered her Jaguar through the streets of the town with Kipp sitting uncomfortably in the passenger side.

"You really didn't have to drive me home, Mom." He said for the tenth time. "Jaci could have came and got me."

Marti waved him off. "I never get to see you. I'm riding this mothering thing out all the way. When we get to your place, maybe I'll even make you a few things, that way you don't have to try and cook."

"You'll have to go to the store first." Kipp replied and smiled despite himself. The only thing she'd be able to cook at his place right now was macaroni and cheese and maybe some nachos. To say his cupboards were bare was a huge understatement and the milk in his fridge, well he was pretty sure it was a solid.

"Well just point me in the right direction then and I'll come back and shop when I get you settled."

Kipp told her which turns to make and they rolled through the middle of town on Main Street. He was thankful to be back in Charming. One night in San Francisco had made him oddly appreciate the small town he called home these days. That relief was short lived as he turned his head to glance at Twisted Scissors. He was just about to point the place out to his mom, tell her how Jaci and Vix owned the place when he noticed its new appearance...that of a burnt out shell.

"Oh shit! STOP!" Kipp yelled. "Stop the car! Holy shit!"

Marti shot her son a panicked look mixed. There was no traffic around them, she wondered what the yelling was for, it wasn't like she had nearly hit anyone. She pulled to the side of the street the best she could. "What in the sam hill are you..."

"Oh no, oh shit." Kipp mumbled as he struggled to get his seat belt off and the door open. He winced as he pulled himself to a standing position with one leg outside of the car. His face was a huge frown of confusion as he tried to wrap his brain around the salon being such a bleak contrast to the last mental image he had of the place. "Fire... damn."

"Fire?" Marti leaned forward and followed her son's gaze. "Oooh...something got a little hot. What did that USED to be?""

The salon fire could have been a complete accident but for some reason Kipp had a very bad feeling about it. Something about it seemed violent. Hell, all fires probably seemed that way but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something really wrong. He put both his feet on the pavement and leaned back inside the car. "I'll walk the rest of the way."

"WHAT?" Marti exclaimed. "No sir you will NOT! Get back in this car..."

"You need to go...go home."

"I will...AFTER I get you settled, now get back in the car."

"MOM!" Kipp yelled in an effort to get her direct attention. "There's...there's some bad shit going on around here. You need to leave...now."

Marti looked at her son as if he was crazy. "And I'm supposed to just leave YOU here?"

"I can handle it." Kipp said as he shut the door and retrieved his bag from the past seat.

"I certainly hope so." Marti said with a sigh. She knew better than to try and argue with her boy. He was suddenly determined and she knew her window of mothering opportunity had come to a close again. She sighed. "I love you, sweetie."

Kipp rolled his eyes but leaned down by the passenger window that was now lowered. "I love you too, Ma."

_**XXX**_

At _Little Graceland_, Bobby awoke first. He had tossed and turned most of the night, but when he did sleep, he had managed to have dreams that could only be described as _inappropriate_ given the events of last night. He had dreamed he was standing in front of Twisted Scissors as it burnt and happy as a lark roasting THE biggest marshmallow he'd ever seen. To make matters worse he had then started looking around for a huge slab of chocolate and some graham crackers ...to make a s'more.

He rolled his eyes at his own stupid subconscious as he knocked softly on the door of the guest room. The only response he got was a loud snore from Juice and then a whining real close to the door. He cracked the door and saw that Spawn was awake so he let the little fellow out of the room and took him outside. After they had both relieved themselves in his backyard, Spawn by the tree in the corner of the lot, Bobby off the back porch, they headed to the kitchen.

Just as Bobby began beating the hell out of several eggs, he heard a song began to play in the living room…

_**One hot mama;**_

_**You turn me on, let's turn it up,**_

_**An' turn this room into a sauna.**_

_**One hot mama,**_

The verse repeated loudly three times before he located Vix's cell phone laying on the coffee table under the blanket she'd be wrapped up in last night. He picked up the phone and held it out in front of him so he could read the small print. The display read MAMA ROX, missed call (1). A few seconds later, Mr. T's voice advised him: _Voice Mail Motherfucka ..._

Bobby rolled his eyes and headed back into the kitchen only to hear the same song blare forth a few minutes later. By the the third call, Bobby decided it was probably best to at least speak to the woman. He grabbed up the phone at the last possible second, "Hello Roxy..."

_**XXX**_

As light streamed in through the open mini blinds, Juice held Vix's body tightly against his. Well, given their current sleeping arrangements, plastered together on the twin-sized bottom bunk bed, he didn't really need to hold her, she was more or less trapped and not going any place but he was thankful for the closeness and for the contact. He'd been a million miles from sleep most of the night, his brain was racing and he'd been wired and wound up, humbled and horny, restless and edgy. Last night he'd been grateful that Vix had spoken to him, reached out to him, let him hold her but as dawn first light came, he added worried to the laundry list of emotions. What if she didn't really want him back after she woke up? What if all of that had been a knee-jerk response to an overly horrifying and dramatic night? She'd sounded sincere enough but he held the tiniest doubt and it kept growing with each minute that ticked by. If she didn't want him he couldn't hold onto her, the harder he might try to pin her down the more it would tear HIM up when she left. He sighed, _we'll find out soon enough. _Either she'd want him or she wouldn't. He'd fucked up but what was done was done, period. He closed his eyes and tried to at least charge some of the receptors in his brain

_**XXX**_

Tig opened his eyes and moved his head slightly to the left to look at Jaci who lay sleeping soundly beside him. He lifted up his body and checked the time on the clock on her beside table... 7:30am. He'd be late for work but didn't think anyone would care given the circumstances. Surely Jaci would be taking the day off too. He rolled carefully out of bed and snagged his jeans that laid crumbled on the floor. He pulled them on and padded out of the bedroom, closing the door softly behind him. First on his agenda were cigarettes and coffee.

He dug his cigarettes and lighter out of his cut where he had discarded them on the couch and lit up as he walked into the kitchen. Under normal circumstances, Jaci didn't allow smoking in the house but these were anything but normal times. That little admission made him think back to the prior night and his rash actions. He hadn't meant to fall into bed with her, all of that had been spur of the moment, knee jerk reaction shit. But in the light of day he couldn't say he regretted it. He didn't have any sort of plan though...figured he'd just see how things went with them over the next few days. If she told him to fuck off, he would. If she wanted him to hang around, maybe he'd do that. But, if he was honest with himself, keeping her at arm's length was getting tiresome.

He pulled the canister of coffee from the fridge and stared at the coffee maker on the kitchen counter. It was not the kind Jaci had owned months of ago. He mumbled to himself as he ran his hands over it, trying to figure out how to work it. "Looks like a goddamn space ship_..._supposed to be coffee, water, go. Why's this shit have to be so fuckin' complicated?"

After a few minutes, Tig slammed his fist on top of the machine in frustration but before he could do anymore damage he heard a noise at the front door. Someone was trying to get inside. He didn't have time to get back into the bedroom to grab Jaci's gun so he took a quick scan of the kitchen. He slid the biggest knife out of the butcher block and stepped to the kitchen doorway, preparing to bury the blade in any intruder that was dumb enough to breach the door.

Rachel pushed through the front door and then called out, "Hey guys? You home?" She stepped a few feet down the foyer hall before Tig made his presence known.

"Morning sunshine." Tig said as he poked his head into the hall. Rachel screamed in surprised,he smirked. She stared at the giant knife in his hand. He grinned at her and held it behind his back. "Just a precaution."

Rachel nodded and waited for her heart to regain its normal rhythm. "Uum...hi?Are Vix and Jaci ok? I saw the salon."

Tig nodded, "Yeah, they're fine. Some asshole blew it up." He thumbed back toward Jaci's bedroom, "She can give ya the rundown." Rachel nodded and started to head that way but he stopped her with a laugh. "Oh shit wait... she's naked in there." He remembered Rachel was gay and grinned. "On second thought, go ahead, I'll come too."

As she shot him a dirty look, he rolled his eyes and handed her the knife as he started back to the bedroom. He grabbed his shirt and cut on the way back. He walked in the bedroom and started getting fully dressed. Jaci sat up in the bed after hearing him move around. He nodded at her as he pulled on his boots. "Hey, get dressed. The dyke's back, wants to know about the fire and shit."

"Oh...ok." Jaci replied as she wiped sleep from her eyes.

Fully dressed, he stood at the door and looked back at her. "I'm takin' off. I'll call ya."

Jaci stared at him with confusion. "You will?"

He mulled it over for a moment. "Yeah, I think so. You ok with that?" Jaci nodded slowly in agreement and he was gone.

Rachel was sitting on the couch as Tig walked back into the living room, heading for the front door. She had quickly found that he loved to mess with her, make her uncomfortable so she tried to do the same to him. She waited until he had reached the foyer hall. "Hey! You got a pretty hot bod...for an old guy." She called out. Tig just laughed as he slammed the front door behind him.

_**XXX**_

Jax rode his bike onto the lot at TM and before he had time to fully dismount, Clay was beside him unloading a tirade. "Thought I told you to deal with 'Bama first thing."

"I called BB, told him what happened. Told him SAMCRO was handling shit." Jax replied as he pulled his helmet off. "Why?" He upnodded to Opie who had walked over to inquire about the Parker sisters but Clay was on a roll.

"Why? Cause I just got off the phone with him." Clay shot back with a sneer. "Apparently while YOU were worried about lettin' 'Bama get their beauty sleep, the shocked-beyond-all-reason-or-function Vix Parker managed to phone home. Left some crazy voice mail for her _mama _. 'Bama is officially fuming."

"Jesus Christ." Jax muttered. "Seriously Clay, what did you expect? Did you think BB was gonna say _'well damn, someone set fire to my girls' shit … almost toasted one of them, that's damn awful.'? _OF COURSE 'BAMA IS LIVID. What Vix say when she called Roxy?"

They all looked over to Bobby arriving on the scene. They watched him get off his bike and lumber over to them. Clay finally replied. "She wants to go home."

"Well maybe goin' home would be good for her, be with her family." Opie offered.

Bobby eyed the intense looking group. "Her, who?Home, where?"

Opie clarified. "Vix, the fire last night has her ready to run back home to 'Bama."

"Yeah, I don't think so." Bobby shook his head and chuckled while thinking about Juice and Vix all cuddled up on the bunk bed. "Joanie and Chachi ride again."

Clay groaned and shook his head as he walked off. "Jesus Christ."

_**XXX**_

Vix forced her eyelids to open then quickly squeezed them shut again. She found herself in the tiny bottom bunk at Bobby's house. Juice laying smooshed up beside her in the cramped space with Spawn curled up on top of her legs cutting off her circulation. The throbbing in her head matched that pain in her arm, making it very evident that the events last night were very real and not just some bad dream that she could wake up from and forget. The sun shining in the windows, all perky and promising, was more than she could handle.

Juice felt her stir. "Morning." He said with a yawn.

"It's technically afternoon."

He cast a glance in her direction, she looked so pale, fragile and very nervous. She frowned at him. "You here with me Jean.. what does it mean? Where does it lead?"

In typical guy fashion, Juice tried to answer a question with a question, "Where do you want it to go? What do you want it to be?"

Vix groaned. "It's NOT ALL up to me, Jean. I have a lot of say-so but it's a choice that has to come from both of us."

A silence hung between them for a few extremely long minutes before he broke it, "I never wanted shit to go down the way it did and every time I tried to fix it I just ended up fucking it up more. I'm sorry, baby… for EVERYTHING. What I want is you back. where I want this to lead… to forever. But to get there, the only way to get past all the bullshit, I think we need to start over."

She shifted to laying on her side to afford herself a better look at him, "You wanna start over? How far back?"

The right side of his mouth curled into a grin and he up-nodded at her "Hey, I'm Juice… how ya doin'?"

Vix shook her head, "That's some do over!"

"What says you?"

"I say you're insane. We've been through a shit-ton of stuff in our months together Juice… and not all of it bad. You wanna forget all that? Like self-induced amnesia or somethin'?" He didn't reply and they both laid there just thinking about it, trying to figure out how it would work. She was the first to speak. She really wanted to leap at the chance to get back with him, latch onto this crazy suggestion of his and hold on tight, but some part of her was cautious. "We've had a good run Juice."

Juice felt his heart plummet. He sat up the best he could in the crazy bunk bed and failed miserably at trying to keep emotion out of his voice "Vix? You know I'm not just reacting, right… to the fire? To the bullshit that keeps happening with the club? I fucking love you! I have since you beat me at 5-card with that Queen of Hearts bluff."

Vix wasn't shocked that he recalled the details. It's who he was, the little things had huge importance to Juice. The little things add up to the big things, he'd explained to her once. She made a move to interject but he stopped her.

"I'm not finished... just please let me finish. You know I was leaving the club house last night? To come find you and talk to you and apologize for all my bullshit. Then Piney got the call from Mary about the fire… everything else sorta grey'd out in my brain… and all that was left was you. I knew I needed you. _need_ you. I love you, I want you in my life not on the fuckin' fringes as somebody I _used_ to know but front and center." He stopped for a second and ventured a look at her face and couldn't even begin to read the look she was giving him. He groaned and ran his hands over his head.. "Am I fuckin' this up too?"

"No.. you're not fuckin' up, baby." She looked at him and bit her lip.. "I gotta little confession to make. I, um.. I knew you were trying to set things to right… and I… maybe I. NO! not maybe, I DID, I refused to make it easy on you. You hurt me… A LOT. And on some level I was trying to make you suffer for that but all I really ended up doing was making myself miserable and everybody else crazy. But I did score a puppy outta the deal." She shrugged ."So, I'm sorry too... ok?"

He sighed with relief and nodded. "Apology accepted."

"Thank you." Vix nodded. "I do have something else to add… if you chose to start down this road with me again you'd better make damn sure it's what you want, no bullshit. Because you hurt me once, shame on you. You hurt me again… I will torture you til you scream so loud the Devil will cover his ears."

He nodded, the flicker of a hope spreading through him. "I promise I will try my damnedest never to hurt you but we both know it's bound to happen, right? Both gonna screw up and end up breakin' each other's hearts every once in a while. It's gonna happen, it's impossible not to when you are wrapped up with someone in a vested relationship. Shit happens. But I promise that I'd never SET OUT to purposely hurt you and I won't let anyone else either, not any more."

Vix bit back a HUGE smile that threatened to erupt on her lips. She exhaled deeply and said, "Vix Parker." She grinned at him. "Very... VERY glad to meet you."

His face lit up with a smile so bright you'd swear he ran on batteries. "Are you morally opposed to kissing on the first date?"

Vix cocked an eyebrow at him but laughed. "Not at all."

_**XXX**_

After receiving a million assurances from Vix via phone call that she was ok, Jaci worked a half day. She left the office around 2pm and headed straight for Teller Morrow where Vix was hanging out. They made small talk about the fire and how there was really nothing they could do until the fire marshal made his report and the salon, aka the scene, was released. As they drove home, Jaci felt worthless. She wanted to DO something, just sitting on her hands waiting on other people to handle shit wasn't going to work and she knew Vix felt the same way.

"You up for a field trip?" Jaci asked suddenly.

Vix looked over at her sister and shrugged. "Where we goin'?"

"I was thinking Darby's Refinishing." Jaci answered casually. "I mean...the guys didn't talk to him today right? I don't see how giving him a few days to get his lies straight is going to help us. I think we should just go see him."

"No shit?" Vix eyed her sister like she was crazy. Spontaneity was not Jaci's strong suit...deciding to visit their mortal enemy ALONE on the fly was very very UN-Jaci but it was right up Vix's alley. "Fuck yeah...let's go."

Jaci parked her car across the street from Darby's business. "Alright...let's keep the drama to a minimum, ok? No screaming, no violence. We're here to ask questions. He hates us but he helped you and that doesn't make any goddamn sense. Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll give us some answers, if not we just gotta leave."

"You're sucking the fun out of this." Vix groaned but she understood the reasoning behind keeping things calm. The Sons would have their asses if they found out they were here taking on Darby alone. If they could get what they needed without anyone knowing, that was definitely the way to go.

The girls got out of the car and quickly crossed the street., Spawn trailed behind Vix on his leash. The huge shop doors were open and the sounds of electric saws and sanders filled the air along with the strong aroma of wood. A man they didn't recognize spotted them, walked over and asked if he could help them. They asked to see Darby. The man disappeared into the workshop.

Vix looked around the place and whispered. "I feel like I should be packin'."

Jaci shook her head. "If there was ANY need for THAT, we wouldn't be here. We're just here to talk." A moment later a very pissed off Ernest Darby emerged and headed straight for them.

He tried to hide his bewilderment as his eyes locked onto the Parker girls. He had fully expected a hostile visit from the Sons today on behalf of the bitches but not from the girls themselves. "Jesus Christ, what the hell are you two doing here?" He demanded as the glanced around uncomfortably.

Vix smiled ruefully and held her bandaged arm up. "No good deed goes unpunished."

"How'd I know my moment of humanitarianism would bite me in the ass?" He eyed Vix's every present puppy companion with disdain. "I meant that figuratively."

"Humanitarianism? Figuratively?" Vix let out a low whistle. "Been expanding the vocab, hmmm Ernest?"

He just shook his head and looked toward the street. "How long til backup rolls on in?" He noticed a split second glance between the girls and realized they were on their own, no one knew they were there. He started to smile but stopped himself, something wasn't right. "Come on... after what all has gone down recently I'd expect Clay to have fitted the two of you with tacking devices."

"Oh Darby, you know we have an independent streak runs a mile wide." Vix teased with humorless eyes.

Jaci was more serious, "Need to know the story behind the fire last night."

He snorted and shrugged. "Good luck...I don't know it." That was actually an honest answer although the girls would never believe him.

"Well then...why don't I tell you my theory and you can correct me? That way you're not a total snitch." Jaci offered. "I heard you recently lost a meth lab...to a fire?"

"That right?" He cocked an eyebrow at her and smirked, thinking she sounded like a lawyer and looked the part too in her slacks and heels and slim button down shirt, a stark contrast to Vix who looked like she was dressed for a day of cleaning out the garage.

She nodded and feigned concern. "Meth is a nasty thing, Ernest. You should stay clear of it, could get hurt."

"Well... unlike your big sister, I don't sample the merchandise."

"Oooh, touche." Jaci retorted.

"Fuck you." Vix spat, not liking the dig at Wendy.

Darby frowned at the pair and looked bored. "Whatever. Look...if you know I _lost_ a lab, then you probably know WHY I lost it. Your precious little biker boys set it on fire."

"Is that right?" Jaci replied, mocking his answer from earlier. "Sooo... you struck back? Torching our place was the perfect hit...you hate us and SAMCRO, get to piss us both off with one strike of the match?" Jaci offered and stared him down.."Completely stupid plan considering the fact that you've been warned about messing with us and the Sons. You don't deal meth in Charming and you leave us the fuck alone, those are the deals. But I guess you decided to ignore all those warnings. What I don't get is the sudden change of heart last night."

"Yeah, why torch our shit and then SAVE me?" Vix questioned. "You chicken out or just didn't want the murder charge?"

"I didn't chicken out of shit. I didn't set the goddamn fire." Darby explained with annoyance then mused, "Fire probably wouldn't kill you two anyway. Hell if an A-Bomb detonated over Charming only thing left would be cockroaches...and the fuckin' Parker Sisters. You're some feisty bitches, I'll give ya that."

The girls lobbed a few more questions at him but he remained stoic. Vix finally got frustrated. "Oh fuck this. This asshole ain't gonna tell us shit, J." She grabbed up Spawn and started to stomp off back across the street, leaving Jaci and Darby alone.

Jaci stared at the head of the Nords, completely confused by him. She started to walk off but then turned around and frowned. She had a few more things to say to him. "Given the fact that you tried to have me killed in that hospital stairwell, I can't believe the words I'm about to utter to you, but.. thank you. I have no clue why you did it, what your motives were but thank you for keeping Vix out of that fire."

Darby snorted at her apology. He knew exactly who had torched their salon, had just found out about it a little late in the game, hadn't been asked to partake and had been pissed off about it. It seemed the LOAN crew did whatever the hell they wanted...his involvement with them it wasn't turning out to be the quitepartnership he had thought it would be. Between the antics of LOAN and SAMCRO, he had been thinking his life was an endless stream of bullshit he didn't need. He wasn't really sure why he had saved Vix Parker... was it because she deserved to live or because LOAN didn't deserve to be ones to take her out?

He rolled his tongue against his cheek and felt an odd bit of respect for the woman standing in front of him. It took some serious balls for her to be here facing him down considering their past. He felt it was only fair to give Jaci a bit of honesty. "I'm gonna shoot you straight on a few things. First of all, that little stunt in the stairwell...I didn't green light that shit. Don't get me wrong, I would have HURT you, probably wouldn't have tried to KILL you though. I needed you scared not dead. Secondly, I don't know why I saved your pain in the ass sister. I didn't set that fire but I know who did and I don't think it was about you or your sister directly. Let's just say... connections to SAMCRO come with a price... but I think you know that by now."

Jaci nodded as he spoke. It was absolutely crazy but she fully believed he was telling her the truth on all subjects. "Ok, fair enough." The pair stared uneasily at each other for a moment. Jaci raised her eyebrows. "So now what?"

"Now you get the fuck off my property and leave me alone." Darby retorted but without much malice. Jaci smirked at him and turned to leave. He let her take a few steps before calling after her. "Hey I've been thinking..." He waited for her to turn and look at him. "Maybe my nephew was an asshole."

'Yeah...he was." Jaci replied. Darby nodded at her in agreement and she nodded back then walked across the street. She frowned as she reached her car. _Goddamn...that felt an awful lot like a truce. Hell, if he wasn't such a racist, meth dealing piece of shit I might actually like the guy._

**XXX**

The next week slowly past by. Vix spent her days going to school, her current mode of transportation was Gramma Ruby's Gran Torino. When she wasn't at school, she hung out at Teller Morrow and at Juice's apartment. They were taking things very slowly but it was good to be in each other's company again. Jaci spent the week working during the day and worrying her ass off at night about the current state of her and Vix's life. Tig had kept his word and called her, matter of fact they talked on the phone nearly every night but he hadn't ventured back over to see her. Oddly she was ok with that, thinking that baby steps were order after their little fling the night of the fire.

_**XXX**_

David Hale sat in his office, going over the fire marshal's official report on the salon fire. Funny thing was, the report wasn't scheduled to be released until tomorrow. He was frowning when his brother Jacob knocked on the door and poke his head inside. He gave a swarmy grin, "Heard you got the report on the Parker fire."

"I just receive an anonymous copy. How suspect that you show up right after it lands on my desk." David retorted and stared at his older brother. "What do you want, Jake? I know what you've been spouting but do you really believe those girls would burn down their own salon?"

"Yes I do. Jaci and Vix Parker are at least third generation criminals ... and I stress the AT LEAST." He glanced at a document frame hanging on the wall and re-centered it with his fingertips. "Probably have direct bloodlines back to the robbing of the goddamn pharaohs."

"Well MY BELIEFS and YOUR PROBABLIES... wont criminal charges make." David said with a sigh. "I need hard evidence I can work with, not assumptions." Jacob slapped down a few documents and his little brother frowned. "What are these?"

Jacob smiled. "Credit card purchases made by one Victoria Parker for THE VERY THREE INGREDEINTS in those Molatov Cocktails."

David reached out and grabbed the papers, looking them over. "Circumstantial at best... public defender would point out the likely hood Vix drinks - hence the bottle, probably does laundry... that covers the detergent... and we both know she owns a ... "

Jacob held up his hand. "Gossip in this town said Parker and Ortiz were through. The only thing holding her in Charming was that salon. What better way to cut and run than burn the ties that bind, right?"

"Brilliant thinking." David deadpanned.

"To figure out the criminal, you must think like the criminal. Didn't they teach you that in cop school?"

David regarded his brother with an amused look. "And buying the items with your own credit card, leaving a trail...? "

"Vix is not the smartest of the Parker Sisters Three." Jacob smiled.

"Your evidence is a stretch at best. You mind telling me how you got Vix's credit card purchases?"

"I have my ways, dear brother."

"Well...your stance is a waste of time. Jaci will just hire a lawyer; fight your claim denial if you go that route. All this isn't going to do anything but paint a target on your back for SAMCRO. These guys are pissed off this happened..Jax was in here this morning asking about leads."

_**XXX**_

Across town Juice walked into the club house where some of the guys were sitting around after working at the garage all day. Bobby and Piney were still at their 'jobs' at Cara Cara. Juice slapped the file folder he was carrying against his hand to get everyone's attention. "SANWA fire marshal's official ruling on Twisted is coming out tomorrow but I got a sneak peak. It's been ruled arson."

"No shit, Sherlock." Chibs quipped. Everyone KNEW it was arson.

Juice looked down at the report. "Laundry detergent mixed with an accelerate in whiskey bottles. Apparently used rolled up salon towels as wicks... "

"Poor Man's Napalm...nice." Tig mused as he popped the top off of a beer bottle.

Juice nodded as his phone rang. "Shit, hang on." He sighed and answered, "Hey babe. Whoa...calm down... what? No he has no fuckin' right to threaten you... Vix... baby.. NO! Do NOT do that! Yes! It would be VERY MUCH NOT be in your best interest just to shoot him."

The guys stared at Juice with rapt attention. Clay threw his hands up to ask what was going on. Juice put his hand over the phone for a second. "Jacob Hale's at Parker Place, running his mouth."

Clay groaned. "Son of a bitch."

Juice turned his attention back to his call. "Hey...put your sister on the phone... please. She's what? Oh...well then put HER on the phone." He rubbed his right palm over his mohawk furiously. "Rach? Rachel? Hey... keep her there until I get there. DO NOT LET HER LEAVE. What? Yeah.. you just keep her there. I'll disarm her when I get there."

"Disarm her?" Opie asked with frown while Tig looked on with amusement etched on his face.

"Big brother Hale is stalling on the insurance claims until a full investigation can be made." Juice explained. "Threatening the girls with arson charges and insurance fraud."

Clay rolled his eyes. "Go deal with Vix ... we don't need anyone murdering a Hale, no matter how convenient it would be for all of us."

"You want help?" Hap asked as he eyed Juice. "How much fire power Vix got?"

Juice nodded and ran his hands over his head. "They have enough guns to arm a small country."

"Sounds like Gemma's closet." Clay chuckled.

Tig held up a finger as he chugged his freshly opened beer as fast as he could and then slapped Juice on the shoulder. "Let's go."

The guys had to deal with a complete cluster fuck of irritate women. After getting the entire story of Jacob Hale's tirade, Juice pulled Vix into her room to try and get her calmed down. Tig and Jaci headed for the back porch where he offered to crank up the fir pit. She shot him a look that clearly stated the last thing on Earth she wanted to see was a goddamn FLAME. Rachel and Happy were left alone in the living room, to glance at each other awkwardly and muse over the entire fucked up situation.

_**XXX**_

The next morning seemed like deja vu as the men of SAMCRO sat once again discussing the Parkers. The question was raised about going to see Darby, to find out his odd connection to the fire but the general consensus was talking to the Nord leader would be a complete waste of time. The fucker was going to lie to save his own ass anyway so why bother. They would be better served pressuring someone on the right side of the law...the Law itself.

"You already talked to Deputy Dog once and didn't get anywhere." Tig pointed out.

Jax shrugged. "That was before we had the official arson report and his brother went off running his mouth."

"And if Hale won't help out?"

Juice narrowed his eyes, "Then we torch his brother's business...see how he likes it."

"Easy there cowboy!" Clay warned playfully. "You can't just go blowing up Main Street."

"But they did!" Juice blurted in response. He was so mad he could hardly see straight. Time was flying by and nothing was really being done to help FIX the siuation. "Vix was trying hard to stand on her own with that salon. We all know she was targeted because of her association with me, with this Club. I wanna make this shit right."

"And we WILL." Clay soothed and then pointed to Jax. "Go see Hale...AGAIN."

_**XXX**_

Jax was lucky enough to catch Hale walking back into the station from his lunch break. He flagged the Deputy down and walked over to him near the edge of the parking lot. "We need to talk...about the salon fire."

"We already did."

"Oh you don't wanna talk anymore? Your brother sure is goddamn chatty about it. Threatening the Parkers with prison and an insurance claim denial."

Hale sighed. Internally he chided his hot headed brother for messing with the girls. "Why do I care?"

"You should CARE because this is half YOUR fault." Jax spat. "We both know who's responsible for this fire. Darby lost a METH LAB...they blew up a legit business on MAIN STREET! That's why you should care. Your brother is in bed with Zobelle, we both know that and he just happens to be Vix's insurance agent." Jax cocked his head as his anger built. "Do you know how long an insurance company will drag their feet on a claim when arson is involved...if they even pay at all? Zobelle was trying to hurt SAMCRO with this, piss us off. Well, point taken."

"It will take a while for the investigation..." Hale tried to explain.

"Bullshit! I'm TELLING you what happened." Jax blasted back. "Look, SAMCRO has nothing to do with that salon, it's 100% independent. They hit that because Vix is with Juice. She shouldn't have to pay the price for this bullshit and you know it. Next thing we know they'll be blowing up the bakery cause we ate breakfast there."

Hale clenched his jaw and looked around. Zobelle had been in town only a few weeks and was quickly causing the chaos he wanted. Hale shook his head. The fire investigation was open and shut, he knew the Parkers had not set their own business on fire. "What do you want from me? Want me to try and arrest Zobelle and Darby for arson? That will never stick."

"I don't care about arrests and lately you don't either." Jax smirked. "I want Vix made whole...she needs the insurance money to rebuild and she needs it NOW."

Hale sighed. "I'll talk to Jacob." Jax nodded but didn't say thank you. He gave Hale one last hard look and headed for his bike.

_**XXX**_

"Would you quit the goddamn pacin'?" Tig growled.

Juice stopped attempting to wear a path in the concrete in front of the picnic tables at TM. "Sorry. I'm just...Jax better pull off a miracle here, bro. Something needs to HAPPEN."

Tig studied Juice and could see the worry and anger all over the kid's face. He wasn't exactly _happy_ with the way things were going as it concerned the Parkers either. Jaci was a goddamn bundle of nerves, he hated even talking to her right now because every phone call was just him listening to her list off things to worry about. He rubbed his chin with his thumb. "I tell ya what...we let Jax try this shit his way. If it doesn't work in say a day or two, we'll MAKE it work."

"Make it work?" Juice questioned.

"Yeah...you, me...maybe Hap...we'll twist some arms."

Juice nodded along, very much in agreement.

"But understand something, Retard. We go balls to the wall on this, I can't have you snatchin' out on me. If you're in, you're IN. Understand?"

Again Juice nodded with a look of utter seriousness and anger on his face.

"Stay here." Tig ordered and disappeared into the clubhouse. He found Clay alone at the bar and walked over to him. "Hey...in couple days...if Jax's little pep talk doesn't work, Juice and me want to rattle Jacob's cage a little. You ok with that?"

Clay eyed his SAA. "_Define_ rattle." Tig gave a noncommittal shrug. Clay leveled a finger at him. "RATTLE, Tig...do not BREAK, PUNCTURE or BUST his _cage_. Do not put his _cage_ in the hospital. You hear me?"

"Subtle..yeah, I get it. We can do that."

"Don't make me regret this!" Clay shouted as Tig strolled back out of the clubhouse.

_**XXX**_

The next afternoon, from inside Impeccable Smokes, Weston and Zobelle watched as a solitary Harley rolled down Main Street and came to a stop in front of the burnt out shell that was Twisted Scissors. They stared as the Spic Son and the feisty Parker bitch climbed off the bike and stood staring at the remains.

"I can barely stand to even look at it, Juice. I feel like a part of me was torn away and I don't know how to get it back, ya know? I can't work without rebuilding, I can't rebuild without money, but I can't get money without being open it's like a huge giant catch 22." Vix shook her head in frustration. "Who ever did this fucked me up the ass without lube. Bent me over the goddamn table and fucked me."

Before Juice could reply with an encouraging word, someone cleared their throat behind them. The newly reunited pair turned around to find Ethan Zobelle and AJ Weston staring at them.

"Afternoon." Zobelle said with a fake grim look on his face. "We've been concern about you, Miss Parker. Do you have any idea what happened to cause the fire? Was it electrical?"

"Yeah sure...if by electrical you mean someone tossed some flaming Molotov cocktails into my salon." Vix answered without missing a beat. She pushed her aviator sunglasses up onto the bandana that covered her blonde hair.

Zobelle made a tsking noise. "Arson? My... that is unfortunate. Was anyone else hurt?" He gestured toward her arm, able to see her wound where her long sleeve flannel shirt was bunched a bit around her bandage.

"Everyone is fine." Juice replied through clenched teeth. His muscles flexed under his blue Affliction t-shirt making the black crows depicted across his chest move slightly. He kept his hand on the small of Vix's back. It was a show of comfort and support but was also there to keep them both in check. If she went to lunge for the fake well wishers he could grab hold of her. Being in physical contact with her also reminded him not to do anything stupid to put her in harms way.

"Are you going to rebuild?" Weston asked without emotion. "A lot of people would take a tragedy like this as a sign...maybe to move on."

Vix had to literally bite her tongue to keep from asking if Weston was going to burn it down again. She glared at the LOAN members and shrugged. "You know the ironic part? Jaci and I had been shying away from the Sons as of late. Hell Juice and I were BROKEN UP. But then THIS happened and well, the guys have been so damn helpful and concerned, we're all back to being wrapped with them again." She let out a humorless laugh and gave them a big smile. "So if someone was trying to force some fractures, I'd say that was a failure."

"EPIC failure." Juice added with a huge grin.

"That's just...lovely." Zobelle retorted without an ounce of sincerity. He waved his hand toward the salon and took a step backwards. "Well, we'll leave you two alone. Looks like you have a great deal of mess to clean up."

Weston glared at Vix. "I'd be extra careful, Vix... wouldn't want to see anything worse happen to you."

Juice gripped a fistful of Vix's shirt to keep himself from lunging at the skinhead. He glanced at Vix and saw her stare at the fake well wishers with such deadly intent glistening in her eyes he half expected sparks to start shooting out of them.

"We'll be seeing you, Miss Parker." Weston added as he turned and followed his boss back to their business.

"I think I want to legally change my name... hearing that fucker call me by it.. freaks me out. "

_**XXX**_

Clay and Tig rolled up at Twisted Scissors a few minutes behind Jax, Bobby, and Chibs. The SAMCRO members had missed the semi showdown with LOAN by two hours. Tig surveyed the damage while he hooked his helmet to one of his handlebars. Today was the first day the girls were allowed back inside the salon. He let out a whistle and mused. "This mess is going to flip Jaci's OCD shit into overdrive."

"You and her seem awful chummy." Clay mentioned as he stepped toward the sidewalk in front of the salon. He knew Tig had been calling and checking in with Jaci all week. "It's cute I guess, she comes running to you after your wreck, you go running to her after the fire. You're not careful, you're gonna start shit up with her again."

Tig scratched his head and winced a bit. "Think I kinda already did."

"You slept with her didn't you?"Clay asked with a look of utter disappointment.

Tig shrugged but smiled."She almost got blown up, she was upset. What was I supposed to do?'

"Hold her hand...let her cry on your shoulder." Clay suggested. "A pity fuck was not necessary."

"Well I wouldn't call it THAT."

Clay shot him a sharp look. "We got enough goddamn drama going on right now and here you go adding to it again."

Tig didn't like the AGAIN part of his President's sentence and immediately growled back an assurance, "It's not a problem."

"Better not be." Clay retorted and stepped over the front threshold of the salon.

_**XXX**_

The guys strode into the salon and let out an array of goddamns, shits, and whistles as they took in the damage. Juice greeted his brothers while holding a broom. He and Vix had been working non-stop on clean up along with Jaci who had just taken another half off of work. He held his hands up, "Welcome to the ash pit."

Before the guys could say anything, Jaci and Vix came walking back inside from the back parking lot. Vix had been showing her sister her new wheels and it had not gone well. "Big Daddy only wants $5K for the Jeep, that's a hell of a deal."

"Five thousand?" Jaci exclaimed as she stalked back into the salon. "How the hell am I supposed to come up with that? You shove a money tree up my ass when I wasn't looking?" Chibs snorted a laugh before he could stop himself.

"YOU don't have to get the money, I'll make payments. He's not in a big hurry for the money." Vix followed behind her sister.

"Vix...you have NO INCOME. And I've already done the math on how many payments we can make till we max out my credit cards and a Jeep payment didn't make the list. Give it back."

"I don't have to start making any payments now...he told me to just start them when I could swing it."

Jaci turned and stared at her sister in disbelief. "Whoa...he's just letting you borrow it or you bought it? Since WHEN do we take handouts?"

"Its NOT a handout...they were just trying to help." Vix explained. Jaci threw her hands up in frustration and walked toward the front of the salon. She brushed past Tig and Clay with hardly even a glance.

Jax and Bobby exchanged a concerned look. Juice hung his head and whispered to his VP, "They've been pickin' at each other all day." He figured he had better inform the crew of the little visit by LOAN's finest. After his recap, the guys shook their heads at the audacity of the thinly veiled threats.

"They're good at the bullshit threats." Vix chimed in as she leaned against Juice. She told the guys about Zobelle reminding her about leash law in town and how they would just hate to see Spawn hurt. Jaci knew nothing of the confrontation and asked when it had happened. Vix told everyone it was the day before the fire and not to worry she had put them in their place. Her suggestion of getting Weston a dog collar and rabies shot earned a laugh from the guys but a stern look from her sister.

Jaci stared down at a little Buddha statue she had given Vix for the salon's good luck, which now was a charred blacken broken hunk of jade. She sighed, "Jesus, Vix…you just had to egg em on didn't you?" Vix gave her a weird look but Jaci kept going. "You knew those assholes are in bed with the Nords, who already have it in for us, and you just couldn't keep your mouth shut?"

The guys exchanged another concerned look over the hostility between the girls but stayed silent. Vix shook her head in confusion. "So this is MY fault? Surely my one liner didn't turn the tide on whether or not to torch my place."

"OUR place, Vix. OUR place. My name is on the dotted damn line too!" Jaci snapped. "And you don't KNOW what pushed them to this, maybe Weston doesn't like being humiliated in front of his boss, ever think of that?" Vix started to say something but Jaci cut her off. "NO you didn't THINK…cause you never do!" Jaci snapped her fingers, "You just REACT. Would it kill you, JUST ONCE, to keep your mouth shut? To just let something go? You and that goddamn chip on your shoulder's gonna be the death of me, I swear to God."

Bobby grimaced, "That's a little harsh, J."

"Truth hurts, Bobby." J spat back.

Clay snorted a laugh. It was rather amusing to see the girls bickering like a bunch of teenagers. Tig was less amused, he didn't like the tone of Jaci's voice, she was getting mean. He'd never seen her be that way with Vix before. Chibs stood next to Juice, nudged him and gave him an apologetic look. Juice shrugged his shoulders and asked for some help carrying out a stack of water logged ceiling tiles, Jax and Chibs quickly obliged.

_**XXX**_

Jaci tried to check her rising anger. She slammed the Buddha statue down on the barely standing front desk and turned her attention down to the salon's cash register that was now burnt to a crisp. Tig watched as his ex stared at the desk. He could tell her brain was running number after number in her head, the cost of this, the cost of that, the cost to have things ripped out, to have smoke damage fixed, etc. She frowned and suddenly looked up, "Hey...where's the key for this damn thing?"

"Ummmm, key?" Vix turned a 360 and scanned the salon. She threw up her hands. "Who can find shit in this mess? I knew where it was BEFORE all this wreckage."

"How could you not know where the key to the fuckin cash register is?" Jaci seethed through gritted teeth. She looked around and grabbed a small crowbar they had been using for demo that morning and started to pry open the drawer. Tig took a step like he was going to help her but stopped in his tracks at the look she shot him. Everyone stared at her as she slammed the crowbar into the drawer repeatedly and loudly. She yanked one more time, popped the drawer open, and pulled out the cash. She quickly counted it. "One hundred fifty seven dollars, Vix. THAT'S how much money YOU have. Time to face reality, baby girl...we are FUCKED."

"J, you're not fucked. It's gonna be ok." Bobby tried to soothe. Jaci shot him a near deadly look.

"Hey, don't look at him like that. He's just trying to help." Vix warned.

"Speaking of trying to help...what have YOU done this week?" Jaci asked.

Vix frowned. "I've had class."

"Class...wow that takes up like what, HALF your day? What have you been doing the rest of the time? Talking to the police about the fire? Talking to the bank trying to get some leeway on the monthly mortgage payment? Talking to a lawyer about how to argue against an insurance claim denial? Done any of that? Have you?"

"No." Vix said quietly. She loved her sister dearly but damnit she was being more than a tad bit bitchy today.

"No is right...YOU'VE been hanging out at the garage with Juice like you're on goddamn vacation while I've been worrying about this shit 24/7."

"Hey, I've been worried sick about all this! But I don't see what I can go until we get the insurance money." Vix frowned and tried to defend herself.

Jaci ran her hands over her face. "That's the fuckin' problem. The way its looking right now...there isn't going to BE any insurance money. We're going to be making payments for fifteen years on a burnt out shell we can't use!"

"Whoa...what are you talkin' about...no insurance money? You girls didn't torch your own shit, end of story. Jacob Hale has to pay up no matter if he hates your associations or not." Clay interjected and told them that Jax had talked to Hale and he was going to have a chat with his brother. It should all work out.

"We'll be bankrupt before that fucker ever gives us any money." Jaci said with a shake of her head. "I'll have to put a second mortgage on the house and Vix here will have to go back to cutting hair for another owner ASAP. You hear me, little sister? You better pull yourself out of Juice's ass and go get a JOB!" She dropped the cash from the drawer on the desk and retrieved the burnt Buddha statue, carrying it with her as she walked toward Vix.

Vix finally hit her limit of shit she was going to take from her sister. She didn't appreciate the digs at Juice at all."Hey! Just because you help pay some of my bills...you don't get to run my life.'

"You ungrateful little shit." Jaci muttered and stepped to her sister. "_Pay some bills_? My ass is on the line for you and this salon. And I've done a helluva lot more than PAY BILLS for you in my lifetime, Vix." The last sentence hit hard, the verbal equilivant of throwing sharp daggers at her sister and they landed too. The look on Vix's face made that perfectly clear.

"Oh well, excuuuuuse me." Vix replied. "I'll be sure to nominate you for sainthood when you die!"

"Fuck you...you would be completely LOST without me. You wouldn't know how to do shit on your own because I'm always covering your back." Jaci spat and immediately regretted saying it. She was letting Vix get to her, as usual turning Jaci into a version of herself, a little too mean, a little too mouthy."

"Get OVER yourself, J! You're not perfect...you're just as crazy and messed up as the rest of us. You just hide it better."

"Crazy huh?" Jaci questioned as she squeezed the Buddha figurine in her right hand. Suddenly she jerked her arm up and whizzed the statue at Vix's head, missing her by two inches.

"WHOA!" Chibs exclaimed in surprise as he led the guys back inside from dropping the tiles in the dumpster out back. They had walked back into the middle of a tense situation and Chibs had nearly taken the statue to the face as it whizzed through the air.

"That crazy enough for you?" Jaci asked with her hands held up. Tig took a step to break things up before it went too far but Clay grabbed his arm and shook his head slightly. This was family shit, the girls were under a lot of stress, sometimes you just had to let it out. Clay had half a mind to drag the girls to TM and throw em in the boxing ring.

Vix narrowed her eyes at her sister. "Why don't you try and knock that chip off my shoulder then if you're so badass today? Huh? Maybe I'll knock you off that fuckin' pedestal you seem to live on." Jaci flipped her the middle finger and that was the last straw. Vix rushed her older sister in a half tackle, grabbing her around the waist shoving her into a wall.

"Get the fuck off me!" Jaci growled.

Several of the guys yelled for them to stop but Clay waved them off, figuring the fury would burn out quickly.

Jaci immediately dropped an elbow onto the middle of Vix's back and then like grabbed a hold of the back of her sister's shirt. A second later she slammed a knee up into Vix's chest and tried to toss her to the ground. Vix stumbled but kept herself from falling completely and shot back to her feet. She slammed a fist into Jaci's side and grabbed her again. The girls were too close for any good punches to land, for the most part the squabble was a painful grappling session with each girl trying to get the other off of her. They pushed each other along the black sooty walls, getting filthy in the process. Jaci finally managed to get an arm free from her sister's grasp and quickly punched Vix in the side of the neck.

The members of SAMCRO had been frozen in place, some by sheer awe of the fight that was going on, others by the knowledge that trying to break up a chick fight was one of the most dangerous feats in the world. So far, no one was getting hurt so perhaps it was ok to let the girls vent their frustrations. But as soon as Vix took the neck punch, stayed ducked down and backed up a few feet with a look of sheer rage on her face the guys knew the real punches were about to fly. Jaci sneered at her sister, completely ready for anything her little sister wanted to bring.

"Ok, ok! That's ENOUGH!" Jax suddenly yelled and stepped in between the girls. Juice grabbed Vix's right fist that was cocked and ready to fire and pulled her tight against him. Bobby stood in front of her as a block.

Jaci took a step forward only to have Chibs grab her by the front of her shoulders and walk her backward. "Knock it off, J." He stared hard into her eyes and whispered. "The fuck ya doin'?" She shoved Chib's hands off of her and moved an inch to her right so she could see Vix.

Clay finally removed his hand from Tig's arm and the SAA walked over to help Chibs with Jaci. He growled "Calm down."

The sisters stood breathing hard and glaring at each other for a long moment as everyone tried to contain the situation. Jaci shook her head and suddenly stalked toward the back door.

_**To be continued...**_

Chapter 12 is in pretty good shape so hopefully the wait will be short!


	15. Chapter 12

**Walk Away from the Son****  
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SoA  
****Chapter 12- Sweet Sacrifice**

**By BG and Reaper**

_**Fear is only in our minds but it's taking over all the time.**_

_**I dream in darkness...I sleep to die,  
Raise the silence...erase my life,  
Our burning ashes...blacken the day,  
A world of nothingness...blow me away.**_

_**You poor sweet innocent thing...dry your eyes and testify.  
You know you live to break me, don't deny**_

_**Sweet sacrifice.**_**  
**

**XXX**

"What the fuck was that?" Jax yelled as Jaci left the salon.

Clay nodded toward the back door and then looked at Tig, thinking y_ou're tappin' it again, go fix it._

"That's you again, right?"

"NO! I'll get it." Jax interceded. "Tig's the last person to calm someone down."

"I got it." Tig seethed. _Little prick._

When Tig stormed out of the salon after Jaci, she was pacing in the courtyard, righteously pissed. "Leave me alone." She warned as he approached.

"Gimmee your keys." Tig demanded. She gave him a dirty look but he shot her one right back. "Don't fuckin' mean mug me, hand 'em over." She reluctantly pulled the keys from out of her pocket and threw them at him. He caught them, clicked open her doors and pointed toward her car. "Get in...NOW."

She stopped pacing and started to protest but something in his voice warned her not to fight him on it. She stalked to the car and threw herself in the passenger seat. Tig dropped in the driver's seat without a word and and pulled out of the lot, burning rubber.

"Where are we goin'?" Jaci asked through gritted teeth.

"Away." He answered curtly.

_**XXX**_

Jax contemplated Vix, who stood seething and shaking, covered from head –to-toe in soot and dirt and grime, as much from her clean up efforts as her tangle with her sister. He shook his head. "What the hell is wrong with you lately? One minute you parade around with _fuck-you _indifference and the next you're sunk deep into a moody sulk. Now you're pickin' fights with Jaci?"

She glared at Jax. "Oh yeah judge ME cause you got such a great handle on your emotional shit, right?" She tossed up her hands. "Ya know what, Jax? I've had enough of the _Bertha-Better-Than-You Act. _Why don't you clean up your own backyard 'fore you come knockin' on my door." Vix shook her head and grumbled, "Worst god damn mistake of my life was stepping foot back in this godforsaken town." She turned and stormed out through the back door of the salon.

Juice rolled his eyes at his VP, "Seriously? I'm sorry dude, but there's merit in that whole _Don't go kickin' a dog when it's down. _At some point it's bound to get back up and it's gonna come back and bite ya." Juice followed after Vix. From where he was standing smoking a cigar, Clay chuckled. Jax glared at him as he exited out the front door of the salon.

_**XXX**_

Thirty seconds into their drive, Tig launched a tirade on Jaci. "What the fuck is wrong with you, going at Vix like that? Her mouth, as big as it maybe, didn't get your shit torched. You fuckin' _know_ that."

"Ungrateful little shit." Jaci muttered as she stared out the windshield. She was literally vibrating in the passenger, so riled up from residual adrenaline. Her hands shook and she squeezed them into fists to try to get a handle on herself.

"She's scared...the last fuckin' thing she needs is her big sister jumping her ass."

Jaci let out a snort. "Yeah, like YOU'VE never flew off the handle, lost your temper."

Tig glared at her and pushed harder on the gas pedal. They hit the highway out of Charming in no time. He sped a few more miles, glancing over at her every few seconds. Suddenly he slammed on the brakes, downshifted hard and slid the car to an abrupt stop on the side of the road. "Get out." He snapped.

"What the fuck are you doing? Are you crazy? You coulda wrecked my damn car, asshole!" She snapped back but he just repeated his demand of GET OUT as he flung the driver's side door open and started to walk around the front of the car. _Fucking dick! _She watched him with a frown as he walked to her side of the car. She unbuckled her seat belt and bolted out the passenger side door, fully ready to match any yelling he was going to do.

As she slammed the door shut, Tig stepped in front of her, looked her in the eyes and said plainly, "Punch me."

She frowned at him, "What?"

Tig stood completely serious and up nodded at her. "Hit me...anywhere you want, hard as you can."

Jaci grimaced in confusion, "I don't want to hit..."

She started to take a step backwards but Tig grabbed her wrist and yanked her toward him slightly . "Fuckin' hit me."

"Tig quit being stupid." She said as she moved away from him. He took a step to follow her and shoved her.

"Hit me!" Tig yelled. "You're all pissed off, you know you want to hit something. Come on badass, let's see it." Tig watched as Jaci frowned at him, she needed a bit more provoking so he shoved her hard one more time.

That was enough for Jaci. She stumbled back a half step and then drew back, hitting Tig in the face a second later with a loud grunt. He let out a laugh along with an _OW! _Even though he had been begging for it, the punch took him by surprise. He took a few steps back to catch his balance and touched his cheek with his knuckle. He grinned at Jaci. "In the face, seriously?"

She was stunned by the whole event and struggled for an answer, "You...you said anywhere."

"Well yeah but I thought you'd pick an arm or something." Tig replied, still half laughing. "Shit." Jaci just stood there, still stunned, but that look of rage had disappeared from her face, replaced by worry for him. He smirked at her. "You got a solid right hand though...that's pretty impressive."

She shook her head and stepped forward to try and take a hold of his hand. She tried to get a look at his face. "Shit...I'm so sorry. Tig, I didn't mean to..."

He grinned and shook his head once, "Nope...no sorry. It worked...you were about to blow a gasket, man. Gotta let that shit out. Best way's sex or violence...but I didn't think you'd go for a hookup."

"Hence the punch." She smiled slightly as it dawned on her what he had been trying to do by pushing her.

He smiled back at her and echoed, "Hence the punch." Tig didn't have any degree in behavioral science, his people skills were crude and questionable at best but he knew how to keep from melting down so he tried to help her in the only way he knew how. He watched her for a second. "Better?"

She took a deep breath and could honestly say that the heavy overwhelming feeling of RAGE was gone. "Yeah." She paced a few feet away from the car for a moment, letting them both calm down then looked at him. "So um...now what?"

He looked around, he wasn't even sure what road he had taken, he had just drove. "Uh...well...looks like we're headed to Lodi. How bout some lunch?"

They loaded back up in the car. A few miles down the road he glanced over at her. "You need to clean up." Jaci frowned as she checked herself in the mirror. It was THEN she saw the black soot on her face that she must have gotten from rumbling around with Vix at the salon. She muttered 'holy shit' and grabbed a mini bottle of hand sanitizer from the console and some napkins from the glove box.

_**XXX**_

Clay eyed Bobby and Chibs as the trio stood in the middle of the salon, taking in the fight that had just taken place. "I'm heading back to the shop. Chalk this place up as a lost cause for the moment 'til this insurance stall gets figured out. Have Juice keep a close eye on Vix. Jax may be all over the board on certain things but he was right on the money about her… she's unstable."

The SAMCRO President exited the salon with a smirk given in the general direction of the smoke shoppe, fired up his bike and rode away. Bobby and Chibs stood inside the burnt out salon and stared at each other. Without a word, Chibs shrugged and took a last drag off his cigarette. He tossed the butt to the floor, crushing it out with the toe of his boot.

Bobby chastised him. "Chibs?"

Waving an arm around at the mess covering all possible surfaces, Chibs frowned and replied, "Do ya think anyone'll notice?"

Bobby just glared. With a sigh, Chibs rolled his eyes and stooped to pick up the cigarette butt. They headed out back to check on the two lovebirds.

_**XXX**_

Juice found Vix sitting on the back stoop. She glanced back at the sound of his footfalls, "I'm not apologizing to Jax… him being Vice President does not give him the right to be a dickhead."

He shrugged and muttered, "Okey dokey" as he sat down on the stoop next to her. "We should get outta here anyway. We've made some headway in clean up..."

"I should know better then to even try and worse to drag my sister along for the joy ride." Vix said randomly. "The closer I get to what i want... it just ALWAYS ALL goes wrong."

By the look in her eyes, he knew she had included _THEM_ in that statement. He shook his head. "Our deal, Vix… we evoked the Power of Amnesia."

She shrugged, only half listening. "Maybe if I wasn't how I am..."

Juice groaned and silently cursed Jaci under his breath, "I LOVE how you are! There ain't too damn much I would change if given a magic lamp and a genie with three wishes."

She cocked an eyebrow. "A genie and three wishes?"

He grinned and shrugged, happy to have broken her seriousness for even a second. "I'd definitely spend one to fix this shit, set you back to good. This ain't your doin', babe. You talkin' trash to those assholes didn't cause this. This is 'bout pissin' on the club... and I'm sorry. And those threats from Weston, that's because of me… and again, I'm sorry."

"I need to get away, Juice. Like outta here... I feel like this town is closing in on me."

"Away… where? 'Bama?" Juice felt himself panic. "Vix please... ju-just…... Christ… I'm doing everything I can to fix this ok? Let's just. .. let's just be _UN_ us... and… and think shit thru, ok? What will running do but make them think they won. All that shit your sister said will still be true even if you bail. All the money and stuff, that will still need paid. Running ain't the answer."

"Are you done?" Vix asked with a frown. "All I was gonna ask for was if you'd take me for a long bike ride. Being on a bike with you is like therapy and I could desperately use some right now. I'm not stupid, Jean.. I know running won't fix nothin'."

He nodded in relief. "A bike ride? Yeah… THAT I can do."

Just inside the salon, Chibs and Bobby exchanged amused glances. Chibs mouthed "The Power of Amnesia?" Bobby shrugged and the two scurried away to avoid getting busted for eavesdropping.

_**XXX**_

Tig pulled in the lot of the BBQ place they had eaten at once before. He winked at her as he climbed out of the car, she shook her head at his choice of restaurant but followed him inside. Surprisingly, all the fighting with Vix and punching Tig had made her hungry. They grabbed a booth and waited silently for a waitress to show up and take their order. Tig ordered a rack of ribs and a beer and Jaci ordered a salad and water.

He looked at her like an alien had just sat down in front of him. "A salad? Are you fuckin' kidding me? Drag you all the way here and you order THAT? Fuck that." He waved her off and told the waitress, "She wants the smoked chicken and a beer."

Jaci tried to cut him off, "Really, a salad is fine." The waitress was stuck in the middle as Tig and Jaci argued back and forth. He shot the waitress a stern look and she walked off, accepting Tig's version of the order; his stare was more fear inspiring.

"Tig, I can't eat that stuff."

"What's your problem?" Tig asked. "You quit drinkin' now you on a diet or something too? That why you're so cranky?"

She put her hands over her face and leaned her elbows on the table. She had a million reasons to be cranky. But the reason for the drinking and diet changes were strictly related to her blood pressure drama. She didn't want to have to cop to her problem, especially not to Tig, but she had a feeling he was going to keep harassing her. Things with him were so fragile, she had no idea where they really stood with each other. She didn't want to scare him off but then again maybe he needed to hear some of her reality. She sighed and dug in her purse finally sitting the bottle of pills down on the table in front of him.

"What're these?" He looked them over and then glared at her. "If these are diet pills, Jaci, I swear to God..."

She shook her head, "No...I have... a little problem. All the bullshit over the last couple of months, it's making me sick...like for real. I had to go to the doctor a while back."

He frowned, "What are you talking about?"

"I'd been having bad headaches and feeling...I dunno..._weird_ for a few months. The day of the salon grand opening it kinda came to a head. Tara and Half Sack busted me having a 'spell' and she made me go to the doctor. Turns out my blood pressure is threw the roof. I'm sorta like a ticking time bomb." She smiled to break the seriousness. "I mean, I always knew I was HOT but..."

Tig mulled over what she'd just said, made some quick connections, and didn't see the humor. "Your old man died of a stroke."

"I'm aware of that."

He was a bit floored and sat thinking about her being way too young to be on pills and how she was always taking on everyone's problems and how much stress he'd probably caused for her. "So... you were fucked up before the fire? Is it just because of work or Vix or me or what?"

"Its work, Vix, you, Abel and club stuff and salon remodels and just...everything." She answered with a nervous shrug. Silence hung between them and Jaci stared at the table top.

"So what now?" Tig asked with an uneasy look. " You gonna die or something?"

"NO! I mean, I hope not." Jaci snorted. _God bless Tig and his bluntness. _She had never met a guy so unable toproperly convey concern and worry. "They've got me on a pill and I'm supposed to change some bad habits. Smoking a pack a day, drinking like a fish and not sleeping while trying to conquer the world really isn't the PRESCRIBED way to deal with stress." Jaci explained and then dropped her eyes. "Looks like you were smart to bail on me. All that shit I told you...that I wouldn't break? Obviously that's all bullshit. I think punching out my sister constituents breaking."

"Bobby says I'm the source of all evil for you."

"Bobby is overprotective." She smiled slightly at her friend's chiding of her ex. "Us breaking up...that did fuck me up more than I care to admit...but that's not my only problem. I mean, you didn't make Wendy a meth head, or make me move halfway across the country to help out with Abel, or pop Vix's appendix or torch the salon, etc etc. But I'm supposed to watch my stress level and I guess the stress I CAN control...that's where YOU come in. No more screaming or getting up in my face. I guess my heart _literally _can't take it. We need to... play nice."

Tig just watched her with a weird look, trying to comprehend all that she was saying. "That's it? You do all this stuff...chill out or whatever and take a pill and your fixed?"

"Yeah...well, he gave me some anti-anxiety med but I'm not taking it."

"You need to start."

"Oh really, Dr. Trager?" Jaci asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yeah, really. You need to chill the fuck out. You're not acting right."

"I'M not right? This coming from YOU, the epitome of NOT RIGHT?"

Tig just smirked. "Don't get all defensive. Listen...you're NOT a bitch. Today's a freak occurrence. You're usually cool as fuck, that's what I liked about you,...but right now you're goddamn hostile. Maybe that pill'd take the edge off."

"Take the edge off?" Jaci started to get riled up and had to keep her voice down. It was one thing to _know _ you were bitchy and out of control, it was another thing to hear it from someone else. She glanced around to make sure no one was paying them much attention. She glared at Tig and hissed, "You ever wonder WHY I'm edgy? I swear since Vix and I stepped foot back in town, I go to bed worried, pissed off or scared about something damn near every night. And just when I think I've got one thing handled, something else rears its ugly head, like this goddamn fire. So I'm so fuckin' sorry if I'm not COOL anymore. Maybe if the world would _back the fuck off me_ for five minutes I could settle down!"

"See? Hostile." Tig watched her with partial amusement then asked, "What are you scared about?"

"Want me to make you a list?" Jaci hissed. "Number one...someone tried to set us on FIRE."

He rolled his eyes, "You and your goddamn lists."

Jaci let out a sigh, embarrassed to have gotten so angry all of a sudden. She had had things lined out and then the fire had yanked the rug out from under her again. She suddenly felt stupid for telling Tig anything about her medical issues and had the urge just to go home and crawl into bed ALONE and never crawl back out. After a moment it was Tig's turn to check for nosy eyes in the restaurant as he suddenly reached across the table and took a hold of her hand. Jaci froze. _Oh shit...what's he doing? Why's he holding my hand? We're in public, did he forget we're in public?_

"It's gonna be ok." Tig held her hand and looked in her eyes. "Shit will work out, you know that right?" He stared at her until she nodded then a more stern look crossed his face. "And those pills that you need...I'll make you take 'em if I gotta shove 'em straight up your ass."

All the hopefulness for a sweet moment vanished in an instant. She smirked at Tig. "Shoving those pills up my ass wont work unless they are in suppository form. I can't believe YOU'RE telling me I need to be on drugs. You should probably be on anti-psychotics."

"Yeah so." He gripped her hand harder. "Don't test me on this, Jaci."

They were staring each other down when the waitress showed up with their food. He let go of her hand. Jaci asked for a glass of tea as the waitress walked off. Tig nodded at her. "Eat." He pulled her beer to his side of the table. "I'll drink your beer. Gotta follow doctor's orders right?" He said with a wink.

_**XXX**_

Vix and Juice reached the scenic overlook and climbed off his bike. The sun was full and high in the sky but there was a rough wind whipping about the large open expanse. Vix shivered as she climbed up on a huge bolder to stare out into the distance. Juice looked over at her. "You cold?" He watched her shrug and pull her hands up inside the sleeves of the extra-thick SAMCRO hoodie she'd liberated from his closet earlier that morning. He sighed. "You know I think February is Mother Nature's best bait n switch. Between the cold snaps and everything sorta seeming like it's in limbo between winter and spring... it feels like the longest month even though it's the shortest."

Leaving Juice to wax poetic on his current topic, Vix's mind tried furiously to sort out everything that had happened up to and including this latest fight with her sister. She recalled all the damning words and bleak forecasts that Jaci had spat at her. She drew in a ragged breath as she stared at a cloud formation. She wasn't the least bit surprised that her mind's eye seemed to decipher a hangman's noose out of the angry, grey puff. She felt Juice wrap his arms around her and pull her back against him as he sat behind her on the bolder. Vix fought her first instinct to stiffen at the touch and pull away. She felt herself edging towards a dark place and the last thing she wanted was to take Jean with her.

He felt it too, her initial reluctance, and he fought back his initial surge of irritation and was glad for it when she leaned back into his embrace. He sighed and planted a kiss on her temple.

"Your nose is cold." Vix commented absently.

"I love this place. "

Vix couldn't help herself and blurted out, "I'm so fucked, Jean. My sister.."

"Jaci didn't mean …"

"Yeah she did... she meant every damn word."

_**XXX**_

They ate quietly for a few moments but then curiosity got the best of Tig. "So how do they know what's wrong with you? They just put the cuff thing on you?"

Jaci shook her head and swallowed a bite of chicken. "Oh no...MUCH more FUN involved than that. I had blood work and an EKG, had to have a ultrasound to check my kidney function. I'm up to about a thousand dollars...all for them to say, '_yep its high blood pressure, you're too stressed and you have bad genes_' and shove pills at me." The waitress brought her glass of tea. Jaci dumped a packet of Sweet n Low into it. As she stirred she decided to test the limits of Tig's concern.

"They even made me take a pregnancy test...apparently being knocked up can jack with your blood pressure." She finished stirring her tea and looked up to see Tig just staring blankly at her. He was utterly frozen, his hand was held in midair holding a rib. It was obvious big bad Tigger was scared shitless. A grin spread over her face. "Yeeeeah...that sinking feeling you just got in the pit of your stomach? Try having THAT for twenty minutes while you're waiting on results. And YES, asshole...it would have been YOURS. I haven't been with anyone else."

Tig managed a nod although it was accompanied by a frown. His heart had stopped beating when the words _pregnancy test _had crossed her lips. An odd mix of emotions flooded over him, relief was first and foremost. _Jesus, I need a kid like I need a hole in my head. _He thought about all the times they had been together, they were inconsistent at best about protection. _Stupid, stupid, stupid. _His brow furrowed as he wondered why he was so damn careful with other bitches but not with Jaci. A little voice in his head whispered_, maybe you're not careful on purpose. _

Tig's eye twitched and he glanced at Jaci, _Goddamn mother of the year material right there. Damn, just think of the eyes our kid would have, some crazy crystal blue green shit, would be fuckin' beautiful. _He shook his head. _Oh fuck that. Don't snatch out now, that picket fence bullshit ain't happening, asshole. _He was instantly mad at himself for even thinking it. He waited for his heart to start beating normally again and then reacted in true Tig Trager fashion, deflect all serious feelings and say something smartass.

"Haven't been with anyone else? Seriously? That's sorta sad." Tig said with a smirk. "But I guess that means I'm special right?"

"Yeah...you're special alright." Jaci replied with a roll of her eyes. "Short bus special."

They spent the next several minutes in silence. Both just letting their minds wander over all that had been talked about so far. Tig had dodged the pregnancy scare pretty deftly but Jaci felt like he was still open to talking. She felt bad for just tossing out the pregnancy test thing, that had been a bit mean of her. Jaci sighed and tapped her plate lightly with her fork before laying it down. "Ok, look...I have to ask you something. I know I should probably just let it be, I mean it doesn't matter at this point probably but...I can't _not_ know. Just be straight with me, ok? That night at Big Daddy's, I got this vibe that..."

Before she could finish her thought, Tig swallowed his gulp of beer and blurted, "I fucked her." He watched Jaci frown. He shrugged. "I hadn't planned on it but then you made that limp noodle comment and pissed me off so I did her out of spite."

He thought about how crazy that night at Big Daddy's bar had gotten, with the two of them in each other's faces screaming. "_Goddamn_ I wanted to beat your skull in that night...was so fucking mad. I know that's stupid but it's like I said earlier...I get pissed off, its either punch or fuck and hitting you wasn't really an option." He looked at Jaci, who just sat in the booth across from him with her mouth slightly agape. It suddenly dawned on him he had seriously fucked up. He dropped his eyes to the table top. "That's not what you were going to ask about was it?"

"Nope." Jaci answered weakly.

"Shit." Tig mumbled.

_**XXX**_

Juice sighed as he lean around to look at Vix. "You know I love your sister, right? But we both know she's a bit anal retentive. Yeah, this whole mess may call from some..._creative financing_ but..."

Vix scoffed, "Creative financing? That's apparently a pipe dream, baby. Finance and credit and math and numbers that is Jaci's WORLD. She knows it inside out and sideways. I never really took an interest in all that, mostly because it annoys the shit outta me and even when I tried I'd get it all wrong, fuckin' transposed numbers, and I end up going to her anyway so it became just easier to eliminate the middle man, _ME_, and let her do it. She was happy crunching her little numbers and I was relieved as fuck not to have to do it, WIN/WIN. Maybe if I'd understood all that better I'd know for myself just how fucked we are... but as it stands I'm just gonna have to believe my sister." Vix rubbed her hands over her face. "I seriously fucked up her life, just like she said...'cause her _family_, her _credit _and her _word _are three things that Jaci holds fast."

She could HEAR Juice roll his eyes so she continued. "I'm serious, Jean. Back when she was in college...she once lived off SpaghettiO's for three months straight just to make sure she could pay her bills. When Aunt Roxy found out, her dorm room suddenly overflowed with food. Then when Rox told Uncle BB, he tossed a fit and wrote her a check. But you know Jaci paid BB back every dime with _self-imposed_ interest."

Vix sighed, "She went out on a limb with me so I could open _Twisted_ and POOF it is gone. And WE, she and I, are still left holding the bag... MORE SHE than I, I guess, right? Seeing as how she has a job and all and I ain't got no money coming in and none to fund rebuilding, and I would... I would swallow my pride and go work at one of them chain salon chop shops, but a lotta people are outta work and jobs are hard to find. In the meantime, my vendors and the loans still need paid." She paused shaking her head with a sigh, "I've booked my sister and I passage on the express train to bankruptcy."

"Don't go boarding any trains, not just yet ok?" Juice asked. "Just maybe something will pan out." He hugged her closer against him.

"Sure... maybe that genie lamp thing will happen." Vix said unconvincingly.

_**XXX**_

Tig and Jaci finished eating in relative silence, only making small talk when necessary and staying away from any topic of seriousness. Tig paid the check and they walked outside. He lit up a cigarette as he leaned up against her car. She took up the same position next to him and crossed her arms over her chest. He blew out a stream of smoke and felt a twinge of guilt. He glanced quickly at Jaci, she wasn't supposed to smoke, but he could, right? It wasn't like he had her trapped in the car with the windows rolled up. "Hey, we get back to town, you're getting those other pills filled."

"Ok." She sighed in resignation. "But I'm not really sure how going from a bitch to a zombie is gonna help matters."

"Couldn't hurt anything. Might keep you from punching out your sister again."

"Yeah." Jaci sighed again. Lately it seemed to be her favorite activity beside frowning. "Shit, I've made a mess of things. Vix has to be so pissed at me. I have to fix that...didn't mean to go off like that."

Tig could hear the anxiety come to life in her voice again and looked over at her. "It's gonna be fine, Jaci. Just calm down."

She rolled her eyes, "It's NOT fine, Tig. Nothing is fine."

"It will be... it'll work itself out." He took another pull from his cigarette. "And if it don't...I'll MAKE it work out, alright?" Despite all his problems,he didn't make statements like that without being able to back them up so she sorta nodded along. He gave her a smile.

"Hey, could you please keep this blood pressure shit to yourself? No one knows but Tara and Kipp. Everyone has enough to worry about these days." Jaci ventured and was relieved to have Tig nod his agreement without a fight. She muttered thanks and then took a deep breath and stared back at the restaurant. "Wow...its been a wild ride since the first time we were here, huh?"

He nodded and blew out a stream of smoke, "If you knew how shit was gonna go..."

Jaci half smiled, "Would I have still done it?" She thought for a minute and answered honestly. "I'm gonna say no." She left off the part about it hurting too much.

He snorted, "Mmph, I would have said yes."

She felt about an inch tall. Here he was TRYING, took her to their one and only date-ish place and was saying he would have walked through all the pain and drama again. She played it off as a joke. "Yeah, but you're a masochist...you LIKE pain. But all that's beside the point...shoulda, woulda, coulda...we DID and now we're HERE...where ever HERE is."

"WHATever here is." Tig corrected with a smirk.

"How long are we sticking together?" Jaci asked suddenly, unable to help herself.

"I don't know." Tig answered with unease. He tossed his cigarette to the pavement and crushed it under his boot. He turned to face her and propped his elbow on the roof of the car. "With the fire and shit...probably need to stay close until its all figured out. Get the salon put back together and stuff." Jaci nodded in agreement. Tig rolled his shoulders. _Chickenshit_. He chided himself for taking the easy excuse for being with her. He ventured a more truthful answer. "And besides all that...I'm...I'm just tired, you know?"

He glanced at her for only a split second but her heart kinda squeezed. He was being HONEST and OPEN with her and it had been a long time since he had done that. She nodded again, "Yeah, I know exactly what you mean." He started to move away from the car but she stepped toward him suddenly and put her hand on his chest, keeping him in place. "That question I wanted to ask earlier? Before you blurted out that stupid confession that I sooo didn't need to know about?" Jaci bit her lip and then looked at him seriously, albeit nervously. "What I wanted to know...did being with me...losing me...did that even put a dent in you? Did you even feel it?"

The blunt severity of the question hit him hard. One part of his mind started screaming _YES, DENT! HUGE FUCKING DENT! _But he searched for a more subtle answer. He thought for a second and finally nodded., saying simply, "I felt it."

She smiled nervously, needing a bit more info. "Sooo...what're we talkin' here? Big dent? Little dent? Scuff mark? Scratch? Could you buff my damage out or would it require part replacement?" She smiled slightly and dropped her eyes, "Just trying to put it in lingo you are comfortable with."

Tig just smiled and dodged the answer. He kissed her quickly on the forehead and then pushed off of her car and opened the passenger side door for her. "Better get back. You've got some apologizing to do." She sighed and made a move towards the car but he stopped her by putting his hand on her shoulder. He turned her to face him and leaned his forehead against her, his left hand cradled the back of her neck. "Hey...I'll make you a deal. No more wrecks for me, no strokes for you...everybody's happy...and alive, ok?"

She smiled and quietly said, "Deal."

He leaned in and gave her a solid kiss on the lips before he had a moment to second guess it. He got her in the car, shutting the door behind her. She ran her thumb over her lips as he walked around to the drivers side. _Here we go again...so much for staying away from bad habits._

From inside his car across the street, the young ATF agent tried to control his excitement. He thumbed the review button on his digital camera and looked over the ten pictures he had managed to snap of Tig Trager talking to and then kissing Jaci Parker. Two of the pictures were absolutely perfect and utterly damning. Agent Stahl was going to be ecstatic. He had thought she was crazy for wanting to tail the two Parkers sisters, but now he completely understood why she wanted to play her hunch.

_**XXX**_

Vix was exhausted, mentally and emotionally drained. She had Juice drop her off at his place after swearing at least five times that she would be FINE. He had to head back to TM to check in for the afternoon. She could have went home to Parker Place but she had zero desire to face Jaci. Hell she wasn't entirely sure she was even welcome there right now. She settled in on the couch with Spawn and tried to turn her brain off.

_**XXX**_

After dropping off Jaci at the salon and grabbing his bike, Tig rolled up in the parking lot of Half Sack's small apartment complex. He didn't even know why the stupid kid paid rent, he spent 99% of his time at the clubhouse, which was where Prospects belonged. He climbed the stairs to the apartment and banged on the door. "PROSPECT! OPEN UP!"

Several minutes later, Kipp pulled open the door with a grimace on his face. Walking was not exactly EASY for him right now. He frowned when he saw Tig. "Um, hey man."

"We need to talk." Tig growled.

Kipp swallowed hard and somehow managed to keep HOLY SHIT from flying from his lips. "Uh, ok...come on..."

Before he could finish, Tig pushed past the kid and into the apartment. Kipp shut the door behind them. He watched carefully as Tig scanned the room and then turned to face him. The SAA did NOT look happy. Kipp frowned deeper, "You look mad...why are you mad? What did I do?"

Tig waggled his finger in front of the Prospect's face. "It's not what you DID, Kippy. It's what you DIDN'T do." Tig didn't even give the kid a moment to respond before he grabbed him by his t-shirt and slammed him up against the front door. Kipp groaned involuntarily with pain from his nether regions. He was healing but it was slow going. Tig brought his face close to the kid's. "You _knew_ about Jaci being sick and you didn't tell me?"

"What? Sick? Oh um well...yeah, I guess so...but she told me NOT to tell and the last time I ran my mouth about something Parker related...well, we all know how THAT went so I wasn't gonna..."

Tig flexed his grip on the kid's shirt."How's your new ball?"

"What?"

"I SAID...how's your new nut? Do you like it? Wanna keep it? Wanna prevent me from removing it through your goddamn throat?" Tig seethed. The kid nodded vigorously causing the SAA to grin coldly.

"I didn't think you'd care." Kipp blurted out, "You guys weren't together...I thought you hated her."

"Well I CARE until further notice. If it's _remotely_ life threatening and concerns her...I better be the first to know. You got me?'"

Kipp nodded profusely. "I got you...totally got you."

Tig released his grip suddenly and patted the kid on the chest. He sneered, "Good boy." He stepped away from the Prospect and reached past him for the door knob. "When you coming back to work full time?"

"Um...um...day after tomorrow." Kipp muttered, amazed at how quickly Tig went from hostile to completely calm. The SAA simply nodded and gave him a friendly slap the shoulder then walked out of the door.

The kid leaned his back against the door, tried to catch his breath and cupped his swollen, throbbing nut sack. "Goddamn."

_**XXX**_

As the hours clicked by, Vix gave up on trying to nap on the couch and moved to the bed. But after an hour or so of tossing and turning, she sat up. She was starving and there was nothing in the apt to eat, well nothing that appealed to her. She checked the time; there was no way that any of the eateries in town would be open but maybe she had time to grab some stuff at the little mini-mart store before they close up. She grabbed Spawn and loaded up into the Jeep and dipped into town.

She had hit the junk food goldmine at the mini mart and was on her way out the door when she ran smack into AJ Weston. Spawn was locked inside the Jeep, growling and barking. Weston was with his kids so he was on semi-good behavior. He smirked as he snaked out a hand and grabbed hold of Vix. He waved his kids on inside the store. "Not so cocky when _Brown's_ not around?"

Vix wrenched her arm free but couldn't help but focus on Weston's odd throat tat, some sort of red circle thing. It creeped her out but she didn't show it. She sneered. "I don't need Juice or any of the other SONS to handle my shit. They are heaping on the protection though, so it'd be real unlucky for you if one of them rode by right about now." Vix was normally not scared of any damn person but AJ Weston was like the Devil incarnate. In all honesty she was sending up a barrage of prayers that that very thing would occur, any SON any SON at all- just pass by NOW. But no such thing happened. She shrugged. "Your lucky day apparently, AJ."

"Luck is for the unprepared." Weston smirked as the Parker bitch took a huge step backward. "I happen to know exactly where the SONS are ... hidden away in their little club house."

"So me needing some stuff from the store... being here to run into you.. is just pure luck... or UN-luck?"

"Whatever lets you sleep at night, Vix." He replied and she cringed for the second time that day at the sound of her name coming from him, "Or keeps you awake.. more like it hmm?" He proceeded into the store, speaking without looking at her. "Be seeing you, Miss Parker."

_**XXX**_

Jaci had wanted to apologize to her sister as soon as she had gotten back from lunch with Tig but had decided to let things cool off first. The tricky thing was, how long was long enough to cool off? She dropped by the pharmacy and got her prescription filled for her anti-anxiety meds. She popped one and admittedly felt like a bit of a failure for having to have HELP controlling herself. _They're just for NOW...I'll get past all this fire drama and then no more pills. I'll get back on track._

She paced in the living room damn near all night, waiting for Vix to waltz through the door or call. After a while, Jaci's unease and worry and guilt had turned to annoyance. Why wasn't Vix calling HER or coming home to apologize to HER? Hell, after all, Vix had rushed her first. Jaci gave up on pacing and slumped off to bed. While Vix was snagging junk food and staring down the devil, Jaci laid in her bed staring at the ceiling. She had spent an insane amount of time chanting, _don't worry, don't be mad, don't worry, don't be mad _but the mantra wasn't sticking. She sighed and turned onto her side and prayed for daylight.

_**XXX**_

"Who's there?" Vix called out… no reply.

She squinted at the alarm clock, trying to see through the darkness of the bedroom. The display read 3:55. She sat up and reached for the bedside lamp. She turned the switch but nothing happened, she reached higher and found the bulb was missing. Her heart pounded in her chest. Carefully... slowly... she eased open the drawer of the bedside table. Reaching inside, she felt for the .45 she knew Juice kept inside...but the gun was gone. She was aware of something moving in the darkness.

"Juice?" She called out. "Spawn?" Again no answer. She took a deep breath and held it and listened hard for the faintest sound.

A low chuckle came from nearby and suddenly the alarm clock, the only light in the room, went out. The hairs on the back of her neck rose as sweat trickled down her spine. "I've got a gun!" She hollered in the darkness. Another faint chuckle... followed by another swift movement, closer this time.

Her heart was pounding, pumping ice through her veins, yet she sweated profusely. _Where was Juice? He'd never play games like this_. Who ever was in the apartment, in the bedroom was not Juice. Juice wasn't here but someone else was and she was trapped. She failed at trying to will her mind to come up with an escape plan. Panic was setting in. Getting out of the apartment was her only chance. She knew she needed to run hard and fast and not look back; make it off the bed, around the decorative screen wall, across the living room and make a bee-line for the front door. But then what? Leave a building full of senior citizens to the mercy of a crazed lunatic? She'd deal with that when she got out of the apartment but she had to get OUT first. The threat was INSIDE, very close, over by the closet was her best guess. She slowly drew back the covers and eased one foot off the edge of the bed but it didn't come in contact with the carpeted floor... it came to rest on the chest of the man with a knife who was lying on the floor beside her. Glancing down, her eyes zeroed in on that tattoo on his throat. "_Hello Vix… I said I'd see you soon_." AJ Weston smiled sinisterly.

Vix screamed and woke herself up. In a quick reflexive movement she had the bedside light on and the .45 in her hand. Her breath was anything but steady, it was coming in ragged gulps and she felt like her heart was going to explode.

"VIX!"

The sound of Juice's sharp voice broke through her panic. She looked at him, sitting up in the bed, his eyes were wide as he saw the gun shaking in her hand. "Vix... put the gun down, baby. Come on."

She looked down at where his eyes were focused... on the gun in her grasp. "Jesus Christ." She tried to put the gun back in the drawer but her fingers wouldn't let go. She had to pry them off with her free hand.

Juice didn't draw an easy breath until the gun was back in the drawer. "What the fuck was that?"

"I.. I..was having a bad dream." She said softly.

"What were you gonna do, Vix? Shoot the bad dream?" He ran a hand over his head in an attempt to contain his irritation and fear at the situation. "Come here."

_**XXX**_

The next day:

Vix was beyond exhausted, beyond stressed and beyond caring about Business Law. _What the fuck did any of it matter any more? _When the professor advised that the day's class would cover insurance, Vix felt physically ill. The last thing she felt like hearing about was insurance. She was literally being fucked over by that industry. Only the knowledge that Uncle BB and Aunt Roxy were on the line for her education and she couldn't face the prospect of pissing on their generosity kept her in her seat. However, halfway through the lecture, Vix was glad that she'd stayed. Well, GLAD was not the correct word but suffice it to say she had a light bulb moment. Before the lecture had ended, she gathered her things as quickly as she could and exited the class room, the questioning glances from the professor and her classmates bounced off her back.

Vix navigated the roads back to Charming almost on auto-pilot, her mind was anywhere but focused on driving. A feeling of relief tinged with regret blossomed inside her as she pulled the Jeep to a stop in the driveway of Parker Place. The house stood empty just as she'd suspected it would, hoped really. She made her way inside, a rapid successions of beeps broke through her distracted mind and she glanced over at the panel of the house alarm. Her sister was setting the alarm now? _Jesus Christ...shit, what's the disarm code. _Vix tried to think. She visualized the code and after two failed attempts and a few choice words regarding her dyslexia she entered the code correctly and proceeded down the hall to her sister's room. She struggled her way through another set of numbers and after a few minutes of digging she found what she was looking for. She leaned up against her foot end of her sister's bed and stared at the papers in her hand. She couldn't make heads nor tails of the crazy jargon…but she knew someone who would be able to.

_**XXX**_

Henry Darling opened his front door only to be greeted with papers thrust into his face and Vix Parker inquiring, "Hey Judge.. what does this legal mumbo jumbo mean?"

He took the papers from her and adjusted his reading glasses as he took a step backwards. He shook the papers and then looked at where Vix's turquoise painted finger nail was pointing. "Double Indemnity?"

Vix nodded, "I've seen the movie. Old… classic, right?"

He chuckled. "Well in this case, when this policy was set up there was an additional clause added to it. That if the insured, in this case you, were to die and your death was ruled accidental, the insurance company would have to pay the beneficiary, in this case, um, your sister Jaci, double the face value of the policy. In this case... well, your policy is for $100,000.00."

"Wait." Vix interjected, "So if I die by accident, Jaci gets $200,000.00?"

"In theory." Henry nodded. "But deaths are very rarely ruled accidental.. probably less than 5% of all the deaths in a whole years time in the entire country are ruled as such." He removed his glasses. "Now that I've answered your question, you mind answering one for me?" She shrugged then nodded.

"Why are you inquiring?"

She shrugged. "I have that class on business law this semester so I thought... well an insurance policy is a contract of sorts, right? So I figured I would try to read it... didn't get very far. Guess I'll be coming to see you a lot."

Henry smiled. "I look forward to it." But he knew she was full of shit. You don't sit on a circuit court bench for twenty five years without being able to spot bullshit in all its forms. "You be good now."

"I will." Vix replied and faked a smile.

She left Henry's apt and walked back up to Juice's place. She was freaking out and not in a good way. Her heart was thumping in her head as she walked around the apartment. On the fridge, she spotted a few pictures of her and Juice. She pulled one of them off and wandered into the bedroom area. She grabbed his hoodie off the chair it was thrown over and pulled it over her head. His scent was still thick on the material. She hugged it around her and closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. She began tearing up as she curled up on his bed. She had found an out for to save her sister from ruin...but the end picture for herself wasn't so rosy.

_**XXX**_

Jaci had spent her entire work day sneaking glances at her cellphone, just waiting on a call from Vix but it never happened. It was clear now both sisters were going to be stubborn but Jaci knew she would win that fight, although she had not been showing it lately, she was _immensely _patient, she could outlast Vix with no problem.

After she got off work, Jaci figured since her favorite sister was mad at her, she might be better off checking in on her other sister...Wendy. Jaci took a drive to her sister's current abobe, a halfway house

thirty minutes from Charming. After an awkward forty five minute visit, Jaci hit the road back to Charming and regretted wasting her time. Wendy was distant and a bit offended that Jaci had come to "check up on her". She didn't ask nearly enough questions about Abel in Jaci's opinion, didn't seem overly concerned that she had been separated from her son for MONTHS.

Wendy's apartment was shabby at best and Jaci couldn't shake a bad feeling that Wendy was giving up on staying sober. She was also concerned that Wendy was starting to dance on the line of maybe giving up her rights to Abel and that notion scared the hell out of Jaci. If Wendy gave up her rights, she would essentially be giving up Jaci's and Vix's rights to Abel as well. Grandparents had a hard enough time having their rights respected, aunts were going to be shit out of luck if Jax got a wild hair up his ass and didn't want them around Abel. 

_**XXX**_

After spending the afternoon curled in a ball alone in Juice's bed, Vix lifted the blankets off her body and forced her feet to the floor around 6pm. She decided tunnel vision was the only way she would make it, if she looked around she'd see remnants and reminders, things that would distract her from her course. She focused straight ahead, feeling so empty that her bones themselves felt hollow. Somewhere off to her left the apartment phone rang, she ignored it, didn't even glance in it's direction. _Keep moving or it will be too late._ When she made it around the wall of decorative screens and into the living room even tunnel vision failed her. Juice was everywhere. She clamped her eyes shut and tried to hurry. Her heart was thudding so hard against her chest she'd be amazed if it didn't burst through her rib cage and fly out of her body. She swallowed hard and tried to force in at last one breath but she couldn't. Her body was alive with fear and her nerves were a hot wire mess. She forced her eyes to open, focused them on the front door and propelled herself towards it. All she had to do was keep moving. She grabbed her purse off the coffee table then covered the space between it and the door. She made it out of the apartment and down the first flight of stairs. As she was descending down the second flight she ran into Millie.

"Well hey, Vix. How are you doin' sweetie?" The woman's smile faded and her face held a concerned look as she watched Vix put her hands over her ears.

_One more word might make everything go wrong_ Vix muttered in her brain. She hurried down the stairs more quickly. Millie's voice called out from behind her. "Vix... Vix! Is everything alright?"

She offered no reply as she headed for the exit. In a little while everything would be alright. She would set everything right... but to do that she needed a little help.

_**XXX**_

As the work day drew to a close at TM around 5pm, Tig had called Jaci. They chatted about nothing for a few minutes and he had asked what she was doing that night. She knew he wanted to come over but after her shit can of a visit with Wendy, she wasn't in the mood for company. Well, she _was_ in a mood, but it was a bad one and she figured Tig had seen enough of those from her lately. She dodged a visit from him by saying she was heading to Jax's house to play with Abel for a bit. And that was the truth, being around a sweet baby was about the only thing she could think of to cheer her up right now. Tig said alright and to have fun but she could tell he was annoyed, maybe even disappointed.

Jaci knocked on the door to Jax's place and was greeted by Neeta a minute later. The nanny gave her a big smile and held the door open wide for her, "Well hey there, Miss Jaci."

"Hey, how's our boy?" Jaci replied as she walked into the living room.

Neeta shut the door behind them. "Our boy is just about to wake up from a late nap. You can do the honors if you like."

Jaci smiled. "I LOVE when he wakes up...so damn cuddly." She headed down the hall to Abel's nursery but called over her shoulder. "When's Tara getting home?"

"Should be any minute."

Jaci leaned over the side of the crib and ran her hand over Abel's belly. He was already starting to stir and popped open his eyes at her touch. He screwed up his face for a moment with a whiny cry and she scooped him up and nestled him in her arms. "Hey baby boy. Shhhh. Did you have a good nap?" She felt him snuggle his face in the crook of her neck and she wrapped her arms tighter around him as she soothed him. This was _exactly_ what she needed to feel better.

By the time Tara arrived, Jaci had sent Neeta home for the night and was laying on the floor playing with Abel. He was fully awake and extremely happy to see his Aunt J, he smiled and cooed and Jaci was in heaven, deciding nephews were the best things in the world. Play with them, spoil them and then hand them back to their parents...well PARENT and step parent? Tara was a quasi step mom, right? _Oh hell, don't worry about all that shit right now. Just play with the damn baby and be happy!_

"Having fun?" Tara asked with a smile as she walked into the living room.

"Tons." Jaci answered from where she lay on her stomach on the carpet.

They made small talk about work and Abel for a bit before Tara jumped into the more serious topics of the fire, Jaci's health and the sister fight. The pair were quickly becoming what could only be described as best friends as lame as that sounded since they were 30 somethings. But in the SAMCRO world, they were sort of misfits and the misfits needed to stick together. So they hung out a lot, even if it was just at the house while Jaci spent time with Abel or snagging lunch together or something. They would hang out and vent about the odd lives they had chosen for themselves.

"Jax said you guys really went at it. Have you made up yet?"

Jaci sat up and held Abel in her lap as he messed with a tiny stuffed animal. "Nope...I haven't talked to Vix since it happened. We're being mutually stubborn and stupid...but its ok. We're sisters, it happens...only I don't think I've punched her since I was like 12."

"I know your frustrated and all but I really would have thought the meds would have kept you from going off like that."

"Yeah...well...pills only work if you take them I guess." Jaci replied with a wince. "I sorta didn't start taking that other med until um, yesterday."

"JACI!" Tara exclaimed. "You are NOT a doctor...things are prescribed for a reason..."

"I know, I know! My blood pressure has been fine, I thought I was ok but obviously I'm not so I'm taking care of it." Jaci tried to defend herself but it was a lost cause. "Oh hey, by the way...our little secret circle has increased by one...I told Tig about my little _issue_."

Tara frowned. "You did?"

"Yeah...after the fight he drug me off...to freakin' Lodi of all places. Took me to lunch, calmed me down and I just felt like I owed him an explanation."

Tara took a long minute to process what Jaci had said and smiled slightly. "Tig as a calming force...not something I would have ever associated with him."

"Yeah, he has his moments." Jaci laughed a bit. "He got pretty pissed when I told him I wasn't taking all my pills, said he'd shove them up my ass if he had to but I was going to take them one way or another." She looked at Tara who was shaking her head. "Ok, you're doing the confused sour face thing, what is it?"

"I'm...I'm just oddly impressed with his concern."

Jaci rolled her eyes, "I've told you...He DOES have a heart, Tara. Its just tiny and blackened and he doesn't show it to people very often."

"I thought you hated him." Tara replied. She had been more than a little disappointed when Jaci had told her about the hookup with Tig the night of the fire. That guy was the last person Jaci needed to be messing with again but who was she to judge? Nine out of ten people would say that Jax was a bad decision too...but Jax and Tig...those were two VERY different poor decisions.

"I did hate him...at the time I said it. But when shit's gone sideways with us lately, we've stepped up and had the other's back." Jaci shrugged. "I don't know what's going on...but that has to mean SOMETHING. It _feels _like something anyway."

_**XXX**_

Vix parked her Jeep on the street, a block from the SAMCRO clubhouse. She attempted to steel herself, dug deep to find some calmness. She knew what she needed to do and further more, who she needed to approach to see it done. Spawn whined where he sat in the passenger seat and she glanced over at him, "It's ok, baby boy. You're gonna love your new home. His nickname may be Dumbass, but Nolan is a good guy... he'll take real good care of you." Vix leaned over and rubbed noses with the pup, who promptly licked her across her face. She sighed and muttered, "Two tears in a bucket... Mother-fuck-it!"a fave line from ironically enough, _Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. _

Vix stepped down out of the Jeep followed by Spawn and the two made their way quickly towards the SONS compound. As she strode along, she pushed down the nerves that were threatening to undo her. She needed to get this right and she was glad she didn't spot Juice, seeing his damn Harley parked in line on the lot was making it difficult enough. There were a lot of people hanging out but finally she saw Tig laying on top of a picnic table under the pavilion. He was smoking a joint and had a bottle of whiskey next to him. She walked over and plopped down beside him. "Hey."

Tig looked up at the youngest Parker sister and rolled his eyes. Vix was a piece of work by anyone's standards and a pain in the ass by his. It didn't help that he was in a bad mood. Jaci had blown him off when he had called her earlier. He was used to being the one to pull away so it unnerved him to no end that she was doing it to him now. Knowing the night he had in mind was trashed, he enacted Plan B. He was laid out on the picnic table drunk, slightly high and more than a little sexually frustrated.

"What do you want now, Parker?" Tig snapped. He raised up slightly for a second and noticed the dog, "Keep that little beast clear of me."

Vix didn't really want to argue the fact that Spawn was all of two feet tall and hardly constituted a _beast _so she pushed ahead with her plan. "Gotta ask you somethin.'"

"What?"

"Could you kill me and make it look like an accident?"

Tig had long learned to expect the unexpected outta Vix Parker, he had no clue what she was gonna ask him but that question was a bit shocking. He propped himself up on his elbows and eyed her .She appeared completely serious and waited for a reply. He repeated her question to make sure his baked mind had got it right. "Could I kill you and make it look like an accident?" She nodded and he shrugged. "Sure thing, doll...absolutely."

Vix released the breath she'd been holding. "It has to look like an accident." She watched him nod.."And if I didn't want to know it was coming... just like surprise me?"

"No problem" Tig nodded.

"Ok thanks." Vix replied quietly.

Tig watched her stand and go to walk away. He took another hit from his joint and held it for a moment before blowing it out and hollering after Vix. "Hey, you and your sister fix the shit between the two of you?"

"I'm working on it."

"Good." Tig nodded. "Jaci's stressed the fuck out... she doesn't need to be."

"I know." Vix disappears into the mild crowd of people. She bumped into Chibs and touched his arm. "Hey, Chibsy."

"How ya doin', luv?" He replied as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a slight squeeze.

"Getting there." Vix sighed. "Um, let me ask ya somethin'... how can you tell if Tigger is lying to you?"

Chibs chuckled. "If his lips are movin' its a good bet he's probably spreadin' fertilizer."

Vix rolled her eyes. "That's what I thought." She groaned and quickly pushed her way towards the clubhouse, thinking _Contingency Plan_.

_**XXX**_

"What you tell Vix got her pissed off?" Chibs asked as he plopped down across from Tig and took the joint that was held out to him.

Tig frowned. "Not a motherfuckin' thing. She asked me some fucked up questions and then split."

"What she ask?"

"Wanted to know if I could kill her and make it look like an accident." Tig replied bluntly.

"Huh?" Chibs stared at Tig in disbelief. "What the hell? Are you serious, brother?"

Tig nodded. "Mm hmmm."

Concern blossomed inside of Chibs. "What did you tell her?"

"Said absolutely... sure thing."

"Oh my sweet Christ." Chibs shook his head and cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled. "BOBBY! Get your arse over here!"

Bobby looked around to see who had yelled at him and spotted Chibs waving at him. When he finally made it to the picnic table, Chibs shoved at Tig. "Tell him what Vix asked you."

"This ought to be good." Bobby snorted.

"Oh for fuck's sake." Tig grumbled and sat up. "She asked if I could kill her and make it look like an accident."

Bobby slowly turned his _what the fuck_ gaze on Chibs. The Scotsman nodded along. "Tig here told her SURE he'd do it!"

"I did not!" Tig slurred.."I said I COULD do it. That is what she asked, COULD I kill her and make it look like an accident." He pointed his finger for emphasis. "COULD... not WOULD... big difference. Even drunk and high I got that. Probably one of her stupid school projects."

Bobby shook his head and frowned at Tig. "Where's she now?"

"The fuck am I supposed to know? Do i look like the keeper of Vix Parker?" Tig snapped. His Plan B night was getting shot to hell. "Go ask, Juice."

_**XXX**_

Vix sat slumped down on the sofa next to Happy. He tossed her a sideways glance and muttered in that deep gravelly tone of his, "What's up, buttercup?" When he noticed that his playful reference to _BUILD ME UP BUTTERCUP_, Vix's god awful choice in favorite songs didn't even garner a grin or a giggle, he ascertained that her mood was as dour as her expression.

"Can I ask you a question?" Vix said with a frown.

_**XXX**_

Bobby finally spotted Juice and hollered for him. "You seen Vix?"

"I think she just got here. She's in the club house talkin' to Happy." Juice answered. "Why?"

"Jesus Christ!" Chibs roared and eyed the doorway to the club house with unease.

Tig laughed. "Now HE may not know the difference between WOULD and COULD."

Juice looked confused so Bobby and Chibs filled him in on Vix's plan with drunken interjections from Tig coming at every few intervals.

_**XXX**_

Hap sat staring at Juice's old lady, he sensed a few things and none of them made him very _Happy. _Vix was batass crazy, serious as hell and determined. He frowned and asked. "Why?"

"Nothing else left to do." Vix stated matter of factly. "You love SAMCRO, right?"

"What?"was the only response he could muster to her unusual question.

"You'd do anything to protect them, right? You'd do whatever you needed to, to see them kept whole and out of harm and ruin?"

He nodded slowly. "I have no idea where you are going with this... but this club is my life, my family. I will protect it as such... from ANY threat."

She nodded. "Exactly... that's what I am trying to do here."

Happy's gaze found The Prospect behind the bar. He stared at Half Sack and then rolled his eyes towards Vix, still seated next to him, and then looked hard at the door. He watched Sack nod understanding and then creep out to find Juice.

_**XXX**_

When they finished explaining Vix's crazy questions, Juice looked incredulously at Tig. "Why would you do that? Tell her you'd do that?"

" COULD not WOULD! " Tig clarified once again and took a huge swig from the whiskey bottle before he began musing, "C_ould you, would you in a car...could you, would you near or far ... could you,would you on a train... could you, would you in the rain._" Tig recited and then cracked up laughing.

Everyone stared oddly at the SAMCRO S-A-A. Bobby shook his head and muttered, "Great! Drunken Tigger Seuss!"

Chibs eyed Juice, who was a mix of emotions with confusion and worry duking it out for top billing.

Half Sack peeked his head out the club house door. "Psst.. hey, Juice! Hap's lookin' for you. He's in there with Vix and he looks more UN-HAPPY than usual."

"Shit." Juice rubbed his hands on over his head and followed the Prospect inside.

Tig stood up and moved to follow, only to have Bobby frown at him. "Where you going?"

"A******moron and a retard walk into a clubhouse to deal with a suicidal...drunken .. most likely armed chick. Why the fuck would I miss that?"** Tig quipped with amused delight.

Shrugging in agreement at at least the entertainment value of the moment, Chibs and Bobby followed him inside.

_**XXX**_

"I made a list... ya know suggestions?" Vix lifted a shaky hand and held out a folded piece of paper to Happy. "I...um...I really don't want to know the details. Surprise and quickness are key, this really can't drag out. I need it done fast, tonight would be probably the best. I .. I don't want to think about things, ya know?" Vix held up the half full bottle of Jack Daniels. "Um, you mind? Can I finish this? Oh can you do me one other favor?"

"That depends." Happy replied, playing along for the time being.

Vix drew an uneasy breath. "Juice is the soft spot in my armor. I've got to avoid seeing him, Just tell... um, tell him... um, ... his smile made it all worth it. And I'm sorry."

"You know anything happens to you… it will fuck up your old man's head beyond fixable."

"You can't let that happen, Hap."

"I won't be able to stop it… but I can stop you." Hap noticed Juice and company advancing across the clubhouse main room. Vix looked up at the sound of their footfalls and knew the gig was up, so to speak.

Juice's face was a mix of worry and anger and confusion. She knew instantly that Tig ratted on her plan and she glared at the SAA. "I told you he wouldn't do it."

Tig snorted. "You didn't ask me if I WOULD ... you asked me if I COULD."

Vix rolled her eyes and started to stand up but Juice barked, "Park your ass!" His harsh tone surprised everyone and she complied instantly. "Better yet, come with me. Now!" H reached out and grabbed her around the wrist. He yanked her to her feet and tugged her across the main room headed for the dorms.

Jax entered the club house just in time to see the manhandling. "What the fuck?" He eyed the group of onlookers.

"Princess needs an intervention." Tig announced.

"Princess don't want to be saved!" Vix seethed as she was being tugged away. "Very much the opposite. So DO WHATYOU PROMISED, TIGGER!"

"I didn't PROMISE TO DO SHIT!" Tig yelled back. "How many times do I have to fuckin' say it? You asked COULD I…. and YEAH, I COULD… but I WON'T!"

"What!" Jax asked with utter confused. "Do what?"

"None of us know what is going on...exactly." Bobby said quietly. "But someone better find out before this shit escalates."

Juice pushed Vix into an unoccupied room, slammed the door and locked it.

_**XXX**_

"How serious do you think she was?" Bobby asked as the guys stood around. Hap handed him the list that Vix had given to him. They crowded around to read it but then Tig snatched it and stared at it.

As he read off the numerous "accidents" Vix thought could be fall her, Tig shook his head. _Little sister acting like big sis, goddamn lists. _ If Vix was thinking about OFFING herself, what the hell mind set was Jaci in? He ran his hand over his face and felt his anger begin to flare. _What a fuckin' clusterfuck. This whole goddamn situation is boiling over_. He wanted to go to Jaci's and bang on her door and yell at her for jumping Vix but that wouldn't solve anything, hell he might give Jaci a fuckin' heart attack. He wanted to beat the shit out of Jacob Hale for screwing around with the girls but that would probably get him thrown in jail. He felt like his hands were tied and besides he couldn't do any of it anyway cause he was too goddamn drunk.

He left the guys to talk about the situation and stomped off toward the bar. "Prospect...make some fuckin' coffee, would ya?" He needed to sober up quickly. SOMETHING was getting fixed tonight if it goddamn killed someone. He pulled his cellphone out of his cut pocket and hit the speed dial for Jaci's number. He rubbed his forehead as he waiting for her to pick up. She had to be _waffling _cause it took her eight rings to pick up. "You need to get your ass to the clubhouse...I don't give a shit what kind of mood your in...this doesn't have shit to do with ME, your sister needs you. Get down here."

Bobby cocked an eyebrow as he walked up in time to hear the one sided phone convo. Tig slammed his phone down just as Half Sack slid a cup of coffee in front of him. Bobby cleared his throat, "Jaci on her way?" 

"Yeah." Tig spat.

_**XXX**_

Jaci pushed through the clubhouse door fifteen minutes later with concerned etched on her face. Her worry only increased when Bobby gave her a polite worried look. "What's wrong? Where's Vix? What the hell did she do now? I've been waiting for two damn days now for her to apologize..."

Before Bobby could explain the situation in a calm manner, Tig pushed in front of him and grabbed Jaci by the arm. Unlike Bobby, who was a complete drama queen, Tig had thought about shielding Jaci from all the harsh details and just let her know that Vix was in a bad place but as soon as she started her rant, Tig lost his patience. He hissed in her ear, "You need to watch your goddamn tone. She showed up here tonight willing to end it all to save your ass from bankruptcy." Jaci just frowned and tried to pull away from him slightly but he held onto her. "Yeah your ungrateful little CURR of a sister. You better consider yourself real damn lucky that she came to ME.. and to Happy and didn't decide to OUTSOURCE."

Jaci was just staring at him, shaking her head. He was pissed and nothing he said was making any sense. He slammed a piece of paper in her hand. "Here... she made a list. Suggested ways to OFF her. A motherfuckin' list! Sound familiar? You're pissed at the way Vix is?"

"Tig...calm down." Bobby chided and stepped in between his friend and Jaci.

"Time to open your eyes, Professor Frankenstein." Tig spat as he pointed a finger at Jaci. "Vix is partly a MONSTER of your OWN creation. You coddle her and protect her and do everything for her then get pissed when she doesn't know how to help herself. Well, she's by God figured it out now!"

"Tig, BACK OFF!" Jax shouted as he made his way over to the bar.

"I...I don't know what..." Jaci was shocked by Tig's sudden fury toward hers. She looked to Bobby for a better explanation. He quickly told her what he thought to be true, that Vix had some weird suicide plan in her head. Jaci put her hands over her face. "Oh shit...Jesus Christ. Where is she?"

"She's in the back, with Juice." Bobby said.

Jaci made a move to go to her sister but Tig stepped in front of her. "You stay put...you've done enough."

"Just sit tight for a bit, J." Bobby held a hand up to keep her in place. "You know I love you girl... but when it comes to your sister lately, you aren't as wise as you think you are."

"Come on, Bobby." Jaci pleaded.

"I don't know if she wants to see you right now. I mean hell, she was willing to END her LIFE... just so your credit score didn't suffer due to this whole salon fiasco. You two don't need to be fighting again. Just stay in neutral corners for a bit." Bobby shook his head in disbelief of the current situation. "I'm just damn glad she came here tonight, instead of somewhere else."

Bobby's words hit home for Jaci but sparked confusion. "Wait...you said Vix had a suicide plan...but he said she went to him and Happy. What's the deal?"

"She wanted us to make it look like an accident." Tig said and watched as Jaci gave him an evil look of epic proportions. "She didn't MEAN it and Hap and I wouldn't have really popped her so there wasn't any need to tell you specifics." He up nodded at her, "See? Now you're all wiggin' out and shit. Calm the fuck down!"

"Stop YELLING AT ME! I'm just trying to figure out what the hell is going on! " Jaci spat back as she tried to comprehend why Tig would call her down here, then scream at her and then try to calm her down.

"Look, NO ONE knows what's going on." Jax yelled. "So let's just ALL calm the fuck down and wait."

_**XXX**_

After an hour alone with Vix, Juice finally emerged from the back of the clubhouse. Jaci shot to her feet from her perch next to Bobby on the couch. "How is she?"

"Sleeping." Juice replied quietly as he glared at Jaci.

"Care to enlighten us, brother?" Chibs asked.

Juice went behind the bar, poured himself a drink and downed it before he replied. He rubbed his eye and then said, "Apparently there is a life insurance policy with a Double Indemnity clause... pays twice the face value to Jaci if Vix dies by accidental death."

Jaci's shoulders slumped and she sat down suddenly on the arm of the couch. "Shit."

Tig's eyes snapped onto Jaci, watching to make sure she was ok, wasn't going to pass out or anything.

He was mad as hell at her for the whole fight with Vix which had forced the current situation they were all in but that didn't squelch his concern for her.

She couldn't wrap her head around what Juice was saying. _Vix...my_ _little sister...was going to have somebody off her...for money? _Jaci stood up again and looked Juice dead in the eye. "I want to see her."

"No." Juice replied coldly.

Jaci took a threatening step toward her sister's boyfriend. Jax saw the move for what it was and stepped in between them. "No, it's ok." Jax looked at his sister in law. "Don't wake her up if she's sleeping, just watch her ok? And NO FIGHTING. Got it?" Jaci nodded and took off toward the back of the clubhouse without a word or glance to anyone.

Jax eyed his brothers. "So now what?"

Tig nudged Happy with his elbow and locked eyes with Juice. "Up for some cage rattling?"

"Absofuckinglutely." Juice replied, his jaw clenched.

_**XXX**_

After pinching the bridge of his nose and powering down his computer, Jacob Hale gathered a few things and pushed through the door of his office. Another late damn night at the office, but in Jacob's mind if you wanted anything done right, you had to do it yourself. Besides, the projects he was working on, he didn't need outside eyes seeing. He was walking across the outer lobby area of his floor when out of the corner of his eye he saw a startling sight. He stopped mid stride and made a tsking noise, "Seriously Ortiz? Adding unlawful entry to yours and Parker's growing criminal resume?"

From where he stood half-perched on the arm of the overstuffed leather couch, Juice just glared at Hale. All he kept seeing in his head was his girl. Vix, burned and covered in soot, sitting on the curb outside her burning salon. Vix, tonight in the dorm room at the club house, that errie look in her eye when she'd told him about the insurance policy and her crazy Vix Fix. He thought about the sinister stares and verbal threats from LOAN. He was the reason behind all her grief and suffering. He was the one who needed to fix things. He felt so goddamn helpless, but his frustration was warping to hate as he stared at Jacob Hale. A while back, Happy had asked him if there was ever a person that he'd be willing to kill for, his answer at the time had been non-committal, just a nod. But as he stood here, he was far from non-committal in his thinking. Vix, he would kill for Vix and he felt an anger come bubbling up in him now that had never before sprung to life. He hadn't even known he was capable of visualizing the things he wanted to do to Jacob Hale at the moment.

Hale returned the stare, " Look, I presume this is about Vix's insurance claim…"

"Shut the fuck up, Jacob!" Came a command from the other side of the room. Hale snapped his attention in the direction of the sound and his jaw slacked a bit at the sight of Tig Trager, previously unseen, kicked back in the chair of the receptionist's desk. "You know why we're here, cuts out that part of the conversation, saves us some time."

"I'll save us some time… you all need to leave, now." Jacob seethed and nodded towards the exit. He suddenly stopped when his vision settled on another SON standing silently in front of the double doors leading out of the office. If Trager and Ortiz had unsettled Hale, the sight of Happy was enough to stop his heart.

No one moved… the air in the room seemed to thicken… you could feel the pressure of it. Out of the corner of his eye, Jacob saw a flashing light. He glanced in its direction and was shocked to find Tig opening and closing his Zippo lighter, while staring straight at him with a devious smile. _Flame on, flame off, flame on..._

Jacob eyed them cautiously, "Look, what happened at that salon was arson. Open and closed case of it. I can't overlook the facts."

"Not really askin' you to overlook anything." Juice interjected. "But EVERYONE present knows Vix and Jaci aren't responsible."

"If that's the case… I'm sure the arson investigator will determine that." Jacob scrambled. "But EVERYONE present I am sure knows that an investigation takes time…."

Juice nodded. "Yeah I bet, lots of red tape and stuff?" He shook his head and looked confused. "You know...I can't help but think someone torched her place because she's with me. Just because some people don't like SAMCRO or have a problem with Vix and I blurring some ethnical_ borderlines_ I would hate to think that will get to be the norm around here. That if you don't like someone you just light their shit up."

Jacob swallowed hard. He was all talk and badass with Zoebel but face to face with the Sons, he found it hard to be so cocky. He understood the point Juice was trying to make and managed to croak out, "That would be unfortunate."

A chuckle came from Happy and made Jacob's blood run cold. Tig stood up and slipped his lighter into some inner pocket of his cut. "You're lookin' a little faint, Jake. Maybe a little fresh air..." Jacob watched Tig walk over, unlock and push open the window to his left.

Before Jacob knew what was happening Juice came up behind him and grabbed hold of a fist full of his hair and wretched him around to face him. Releasing his grip on the hair, Juice took up fists full of Jacob's suit shirt and jacket and bulldoze-pushed him across the space. A second later Happy was beside him assisting. The two flipped him around and Hap gripped the back of Jacob's shirt and took hold of his right leg, Juice took hold of his left and the two hoisted him up and stuffed him head-first half-way out the window.

Jacob Hale had a clear view straight down to the back parking lot below. He began to scream, short little screams one right after the next.

"Eight stories down, Jake. Fall like that probably do more than maim ya." Juice said playfully. "'specially someone of you're …um, stature?"

"No shit… you ain't missed many meals have you, boy?" Happy stated rhetorically.

Jacob held his body very rigid, frightened that struggling would cause them to lose their grip on him. He reached back slowly, desperately trying to find something to leach onto.

Standing inside the window, Tig mused, "The view from this floor is fantastic. Bet you pay extra for the unobstructedness."

"Wh-what the fuck do you want?" Hale panted between short screams.

Tig shrugged. "I could go for a blow job … and I'd love to get my hands on an original copy of The Beatles, _The White Album._"

"Wha- what?" Jacob cried. Tig nodded at Hap and Juice and they hauled Hale back in part way. His head was still sticking out of the window and his chest was resting hard on the window sill… his screams had dissolved into gasps for air.

"What do you think we want?" Juice hissed. "Pay out on the Parker insurance claim, FULL PAY OUT. You got 'til end of business on Friday or you and gravity are gonna duke it out. Guess who's gonna win that one, Jakey."

"Tha-that's three days from now.." Jacob panted incredulously.

"Then you'd better get busy slashing through all that red tape." Juice smirked.

"I was serious about that album. Helter Skelter is on that one." Tig added. The three other men in the room stared at Tig who shrugged. "What? Fuckin' fantastic song."

Juice shook his head and focused on Jacob Hale. "That Friday deadline is non-negotiable."

Jacob went to speak but Happy cold cocked him with such precision that Hale doesn't have time to blink.

"Daddy ain't gonna be pleased." Tig rolled his eyes. "I promised Clay we'd only rattle…"

Hap shrugged. "He'll have a sore jaw…minimal swelling ... nothing too obvious or noticeable."

The guys cleared out, leaving Jacob Hale slumped on the floor unconscious under the still opened window.

_**XXX**_

Vix had only been faking sleep so when Jaci walked in, she sat up in bed. The sisters had a good long CALM talk about everything that had happened between them lately. Apologies were made and accepted by both sides and the girls decided that their world maybe taking a turn for the worse but it certainly wasn't OVER. They were going to make it through the mess together. Vix promised her search for a hitman was over and Jaci promised an end to her bitchy rants. Vix finally did fall asleep with Jaci curled up next to her, just like they had done as kids.

Jaci snuck out of the room a bit later only to find the contingent of Sons had changed slightly. Gone were Happy, Tig and Juice but Clay and Opie had arrived and regarded her with a nod. She nodded back and sat down at a table with Chibs. He gave her a small wink to make her feel better. "Where are the guys?"

"Had something to do. They'll be back in a bit." Chibs answered cryptically.

A bit ended up being a half hour. Happy and Tig went straight to the bar and to answering hushed questions from some of the other guys. Jaci stood and walked over to Juice.

"I talked to Vix...we're good. I'm gonna take her home. She'll be ok. I'll watch her."

"Nah, I got her... she's been staying at my apartment." Juice shook his head.

Jaci glared at him. So much for being nice and polite. "She's totally withdrawn Juice. Really I think its time to start thinking with the big head."

Juice cocked his head and bore holes into Jaci. He lowered his voice so the others couldn't hear the rant he was about to unleash. He was still riled up from the Jacob Hale rattling and resented the shit out of Jaci. "Fuck you for thinking that's what I'm after. You've been so wrapped up in your woe-is-me bullshit you don't know the half of it. She hardly sleeps, has crazy nightmares. I catch a few z's in between calming her down. In the last week I've been kicked, punched, slapped, had a gun pulled on me and her damn fuckin' dog has tried to bite me no less than 8 times. She's sobbed on my shoulder, shook in my arms. Even if she wanted to have sex, which she admittedly isn't ready for, I don't think I honestly have the energy. So don't stand there and fuckin' cheapen what I have with her."

Jaci wanted to scream at Juice, to point out the fact that he had just recently waltzed back into Vix's life so what gave him any right to tell her off...but he did have every right to be mad. Jaci of ALL people was supposed to protect Vix, not pick fights with her, not push her to crazy desperate decisions. Hell maybe the best place for Vix right now was with Juice. Jaci gritted her teeth. "FINE. Call me if you need anything. I'll be at the house."

Juice just nodded and let Jaci brush past him as she headed for the door and the parking lot. Tig watched her leave. He wanted to talk to her but thought better of it. He walked over to clapped Juice on the shoulder. "You did good tonight, Retard. I thought you'd snatch out but you didn't." Juice smiled humorlessly and went to check in on Vix while Hap gave Clay a play by play of the Hale handling.

Chibs had walked outside to get some air and looked over when the clubhouse door pushed open. Jaci stepped outside with her head hung low. She felt like an absolute heel. Juice was mad at her, Tig seemed to be pissed at her, her sister hated her or loved her enough to want to kill herself but currently was such a mess she could really only be comforted by a damn puppy.

"Eh, you fucked up, J. But no need for the head hangin', it'll be better tomorrow."

Jaci stopped and stared at Chibs, who just blew a stream of smoke into the air. "Wow, that's profound, Chibsy."

He shrugged. "Its the truth."

"I hope so." Jaci replied and walked to her car. She sat with her hand on the ignition for a couple of minutes, hoping Tig would walk outside to talk to her but he didn't show. She fired up the Mustang and headed home alone.

_**XXX**_

"You should have heard him screaming." Happy said with a laugh.

"Like the little bitch he is." Tig added. "Really surprised he didn't piss himself hanging out the window like that."

"Good thing...I woulda dropped his ass for sure." Hap snorted.

Clay shook his head. "Ok, so his cage is effectively rattled. Do you think he'll pay up?"

Tig shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not."

"Great. So you threatened him for nothing." Jax spat with a harsh look to Tig.

"Wasn't a THREAT...he doesn't pay, Juice and me are throwing him out that goddamn window." Tig spat back. Jax rolled his eyes and headed out for the night, tired of the damn drama.

Op frowned. "So is Vix out of the woods or should we still be worried? She knows no SON will help her out with her little plan, what happens if she takes it outside the club?"

"What are you talking about?" Juice asked as he walked back into the main room.

"Don't be a blind dumbass, Juice. She knows who is behind the fire at Twisted. I don't put it past her to make a self-serving visit to Zoebel or Weston, kill two birds with one."

"Shit." Tig said with a shake of his head. "She can't get the accident angle to work, she goes for just death."

"Would get her a hundred grand." Bobby chimed in.

Clay held up a hand, cutting off all the death talk. "Op's got a point. Starting now until she somewhat resembles her former pain-in-the-ass self, Vix Parker is on SAMCRO Suicide and Stupidity Watch. She's to be protected from herself and anyone else that might hurt her. And if Jaci falls in that category right now, so be it." He pointed at Juice. "You got shit to do though... have the Prospect babysit her."

The other guys dispersed, leaving Juice and Clay alone at the bar. Juice sighed. "Fuckin dog started barking, wouldn't let me near her when I went to check on her."

Clay snorted. "When I hooked up with Gemma... she had a dead kid, a dead husband, and JAX, a livng,breathing head-strong pain-in-my-ass. A 15 year old SAMCRO legacy for me to deal with. Vix and her little dog, big fuckin' deal. The thing is this; Vix has baggage. They ALL have baggage and in this case, you have your own retarded self to thank for a lot of that. I'm gonna warn ya... if you can't deal with something like THIS, I have serious concerns about your usefulness to this club. Cause when push comes shove, that Reaper on your back comes with A LOT of BAGGAGE too."

_**XXX**_

Tig walked outside to his bike and scrolled through the list of numbers in his phone as he sat down. He found the one he was looking for and punched SEND. He was probably going to take a lot of shit for making this call but he really didn't care. At this point, all options had been tried and failed. He didn't care about club politics or hurt feelings anymore, he could honestly use all the help he could get.

"Yeah?" A voice on the line answered.

"Hey man, its Tig."

There was pause of confusion followed by, "Hey...everything alright?"

"Not really, things are pretty fucked up." Tig answered honestly. "Look, I don't want to sound dramatic but if you want to keep BOTH of your cousins breathing...'Bama is gonna need to make an appearance in Charming. All the King's Men can't fix this for them, we've tried. Sorry, man."

Motor nodded his head as he held the phone. "I'll see what I can do. I'll holler back at ya in a bit."

Tig pushed END and sighed. He took a deep breath and then called Jaci. The phone rang and rang and she didn't answer. He couldn't say he blamed her, not after everyone had ganged up on her tonight. He normally never left messages but he waited for the beep then said, "Hey...its me. Look, I shouldn't have jumped you like that tonight but shit got out of hand. But I'm doing everything I can to fix all this bullshit for you. OK? You just gotta trust me...give me a couple of days and things will be straight again." He punched END and stared across the parking lot. Just as he was starting to worry that Jaci might not be alright, his phone vibrated in his hand. The text message from her stated simply, 'OK'.

_**To be continued...**_

Song selections for this chapter, links provided in our folder at TigNation.

_Juice and Vix_

Her Diamonds, by Rob Thomas

Sweet Sacrifice, Evanescence

_Tig and Jaci_

Bent, by Matchbox Twenty

Feel Better, by Steven Tyler and Santana


	16. Chapter 13Back to Good

**Walk Away from the Son****  
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SoA  
****Chapter 13-Back to Good**

**By BG and Reaper**

_**XXX Three Wise Men (plus a dumbass & a crazy bastard) XXX**_

"_Eastbound and down, loaded up and truckin_'..." Bodie Hogan sang as he crammed his duffel bag into the truck and slammed the door.

"We're going WEST, dipshit." Stanley 'Motor' Johnson, pointed out to his friend.

"Oh...yeah, you are absolutely right." Bodie nodded and grinned. He cleared his throat and started singing again. "_WESTbound and down, loaded up and truckin'. We gonna do what they say can't be done. We gotta long way to go and a short time to get there. We're WEST bound, just watch ole Motor run!_"

Motor ran his hand over his face. This was going to be a long damn trip. He glanced over at his other travel companion. "What time you tell Dumbass to be here?"

Trace Cope rolled his eyes. "Knowing we wanted to be on the road in 'bout 15 minutes, I told him to be here an hour ago, that should be him rollin' down the street right now, just like clockwork."

Onto the lot roared Nolan Dumasse on his beloved 2005 Harley V-Rod. He slowed her down to a crawl and rode her right up the ramp and into the utility trailer that was hooked up to the Ford pick-up. He secured her next to the three other bikes already loaded inside.

BB Parker walked out of the 'Bama club house with Travis 'TNT' Toomey. "You sure you're up for this trip, old man?"

"I reckon we'll see, won't we? But y'all know better than to plant this boy anywhere but in Alabama clay."

"That question was rhetorical, Trav, cause you know five set out, five sure as shit better return in one piece and still drawin' breath."

Nolan walked out of the trailer and stared at his traveling companions. "Well...I'm here. We can get this show on the road now."

_**XXX Hello, T..R..O..U..BLE XXX**_

All hopes David Hale had for an uneventful Friday went out the window with an early morning call from his older brother. Every conversation with Jacob reminded him of one of those _Magic-Eye_ books; in order to figure out the puzzle you had to look past the pageantry and study the details hidden within THE BIG PICTURE. So when Jacob announced that he had to leave town for a few days, was actually rushing out the door as they spoke and not to worry unless he didn't return, David was sure there was a lot NOT being said. He sighed into his cell phone as he walked across the parking lot at Charming PD, "How long should I wait until I get concerned?"

His brother's reply was drown out by the sound of approaching motorcycles. He watched as three unfamiliar motorcycles lead the way down the street. He noted the cut on each of the riders and turned in time to see the Reaper hanging on their backs. The top rocker proclaiming them SONS OF ANARCHY, was a given... the bottom rocker, however caused him some worry. Behind them traveled two pick-up trucks, each towing a utility trailer.

He dropped his gaze on the vanity plate adorning the first pick up, six dark-blue letters spelling out a phrase that caused his brow to furrow. **SOA ~ SOB**. And if that wasn't bad enough, the words _Sweet Home ALABAMA_ made up the frame-work of the 12x6 inch metal equivalent of a Rebel Yell .The second pick up also sported a vanity plate, the same unfortunate framework but this one bore the phrase **RUF-N-REDY**. David Hale hoped like hell that this group would pull illegal U-turns and head straight back out of Charming. A contingent of Alabama SONS arriving in Charming could only mean one thing-Trouble...with a Capital T and that rhymed with P and that sure as shit stood for Parker.

_**XXX The Path to Porn XXX**_

Luann stared over the rim of her coffee cup, "Ya know, THAT question will follow me until the day there's nothing left of me but a pile of flesh, bones and silicone. What do you think they assume is the answer?"

Vix shrugged, "I think that most people's _go-to _answer for any behavior they can't understand, be it robbin' a bank, hackin' into computers, being a no-holds-barred, bat assed crazy party girl, or deciding to have sex with strangers on camera for a living is they assume you had a fucked up childhood."

"BINGO. And you know how the saying goes about assuming things." Luann replied with a smirk before taking a sip of her steaming beverage. "The real truth is never simple and as for the path that leads to porn, usually starts out with a some teenager wanting to be a model. Modeling, HA! Sooner or later the sentence, _Could you undress now?_ is a steadfast of every job interview. Next step, girl starts stripping cause if you're gonna wind up naked, you might as well make good Bank, right? Then girl goes into Nude Modeling, that's when you don't even kid yourself anymore, all it really is is a combination of the two prior steps. Then it's onto Soft-Core girl on girl movies and finally she progresses into Hard-Core and you're so jaded it don't really matter anyway. You're there for the money... the fucking is just a means to that end."

Vix stared at the half-eaten bagel in front of her. She shook her head, resigned, "You know I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. My prior attempt at easing mine and Jaci's financial burdens was met with a bit of resistance."

Luann nodded. "I heard..Face it sweetie, that plan was so far out in left field it probably orbited Pluto a few times while THIS is a completely legitimate job offer."

"Juice says Pluto isn't a planet anymore."

"Really? Since when?"

Vix shrugged, "Speaking of Juice, I'm not sure he'd be amused with me workin' at Cara Cara. And there is the matter of a certain a_ctress _that I'm sure I shouldn't be let within 10 feet of."

"What if I promise you won't have to work with Tiffany?"

"These negotiations are unfair because you know I need the money. I won't see that kinda green workin' in a chop shop hair cuttery down at the mall. BUT, I know that you're stretched a bit over a barrel, too." Vix eyed Luann. "You know the salon was Rachel's means of income, too. So I offer you this...you put us BOTH to work and you got a deal."

"I'll have to re-work those figures if I have to budget for both of you..."Luann warned.

"Do what you gotta do. Get me the new offer before Monday." Vix rolled her eyes, "I can only placate my sister for so long. Promised her my ass would be at the Lodi Mall fillin' out applications beginning next week."

"Sure thing, sugar." Luann said as she took a sip of coffee and watched the young lady take a healthy bite of bagel. "Ya know Juice has been doing wonders to my online business. Net revenue has almost doubled. How are things goin'... you two back to good?"

"Nice segway." Vix said with amusement, "Juice and me are good, Lu. We had a big ol' _Come to Jesus_ discussion and then things went in a whole 'nother _b__iblical_ direction."

"Oooh, sexual healing... it's not just a song, ya know" Luann quipped.

Vix closed her eyes and pictured in her mind every detail of their _healing. _She shifted in her seat, needs and desires stirring in her all over again. She tried to downplay the grin that accompanied the mental replay...

"_I miss you, Vix"_

"_I'm right here." She shot him a questioning look. _

_He gave her a totally endearing, lopsided smile. "You're too far away."_

"_Define too far."_

"_Not in constant contact with some part of my body."_

_Now it was her turn to unleash a quirky grin, "Ah... and I bet there's a specific part of your body you're wanting to be .. um, constantly contacted."_

"_Sure." He laughed. "But at the moment I'm not that picky." He snagged her hips and yanked her tight against him. With her straddling his lap she flung her hands out to brace the wall behind his head, right before her breasts hit his chest. Taking her face in his hands, he crushed his mouth to hers._

_She'd felt like she'd been drugged, intoxicated by the taste of him. Suddenly she couldn't get enough...her finger tips twitched to touch him, to run her hands all over him but the overload of sensation created by his mouth on hers, his tongue sliding along hers, was all she could focus on at the moment. He wove his fingers through her spiky hair. His kiss was deep yet slow, almost lazy, and it was at complete odds with the ravenous hunger now clawing through him, to have her, all of her. _

_She'd felt his cock surge to rock hard proportions as she began to moving her hips. Internally, she'd felt the exquisite torture of clenching muscles, racing pulse, tightening nipples. He was driving her to a fever pitch. His body was rigid and taunt against hers and yet his fingers, his lips, his tongue were all gentle and smooth and deliberate. He slid his mouth from hers and then took her bottom lip and sucked it. A groan escaped from deep in his throat and while cupping her jaw he lightly thumbed the sides of her neck. _

_Her breasts ached for those fingers to be brushing against them, for his mouth to be sucking and nipping. Suddenly her mind registered his arms dropping to encircle her waist and she felt him lift her up as he surged to stand. She brought her legs up and wrapped them around his waist as his momentum carried them forward across his living room, aiming for the space between two of the decorative screen wall partitions that lead to his bedroom. His aim was off and her spine came up against the wall. Her knees began to wobble when he stood her on the ground. _

_He slid his hands down her body, moving his body down along hers at the same time. She gasped and arched against him as his hands cupped her breasts. His thumbs ran in a circular motion over her nipples. The sensation even through her clothes, dampened her panties and caused her breath to get caught in her throat._

_She heard a ragged edge to his own breath as he lowered himself to his knees in front of her. He nudged the bottom of her tee-shirt up with the tip of his nose and began tracing his tongue around her naval. He dipped the tip of his tongue inside her belly button at the same time as his thumbs and forefingers pinched her nipples, eliciting a guttural grown from her._

_He gripped her hips, pinning her back against the wall as he tugged the button of her jeans open with his teeth. His thumbs pressed against her hipbones as he again used his teeth to yank down her zippered fly. He pressed his lips against the skin he'd just exposed. He pulled back and stared up at her. "Lose the shirt" he said and she complied, tugging her t-shirt over her head and dropping it to the floor next to where she stood. She smiled down at him playfully. He nodded at her again, "That too." Reaching behind herself, she unhooked her bra and a second later it joined her shirt on the floor next to her feet. _

_Pressing soft kisses against her belly, he reached up and caressed her now bare breasts. She felt him dip his tongue along the edge of her panties and she shuddered as pleasure ripped through her. A long, low groan came out of her and she whimpered when his hands left her breasts and started tugging her jeans down. She lifted her legs one by one, kicking out of her jeans and panties. She now stood completely exposed to him... for the first time in a long time..._

_As he slid his hands around the back of her legs and his lips brushed against her thigh her inner muscles clenched so tight in anticipation of what he was about to do that it caused her physical pain. She had to fight the urge to keep from grabbing his head and shoving him where she needed him most. Her patience was rewarded when he nuzzled her thighs apart and gripped her hips harder and he dipped his tongue exactly where she was dying for it. She let herself go as he slid his tongue against her, flicked and swirled it against her clit. Her hips began to rock and she heard herself alternate between moaning and swearing. She was lucid enough to pick up on the fact that each time she'd cuss, he'd groan against her.. He continued to taunt her with his tongue until she was panting hard and suddenly gasped and twitched hard. _

_Her legs went loose and he bore the sudden brunt of her weight as he eased them both to the floor., where he held her as she shuddered and gasped and giggled. In the next minute she was tearing at him, shoving her tongue in his mouth... enjoying the taste of herself on his tongue. She dragged his shirt over his head and raked her fingers down his chest, pausing to tweak each of his nipples. She moved her fingers across his abdomen until she found herself ripping open his belt buckle and jeans. He lifted up as she tore them down just as she was about to return the oral favor, he stunned her by pulling her body up the length of his, bringing her face to face with him. Reaching out he caressed her cheek. "Not now... there's something I want more, something WE NEED more, Vix."_

_She leaned down and kissed him softly as she reached between them and took him in her hand. Shifting her hips slightly she guided him into her and sunk down on him. Too overwhelmed by the deep physical connection, she felt herself unable to move. She wasn't even aware of the tears pouring from her eyes until she felt him pull away slightly. She opened her eyes at the move and saw his look of concern. She couldn't formulate words so she tried to express with her eyes that she wanted this.. needed it really but was so overwhelmed she could hardly breathe. She knew he understood when he cradled her and rolled them both, bringing himself on top. _

"_Shh shh shh shh shh." He murmured lovingly against her ear as he slowly began to move inside her. He brought his lips to her face and kissed her tear stained cheek, licking away her salty tears. She wrapped her legs around his waist and moved in echo of his rhythm . She was not the only one upon whom the emotional edge of their re-unification fuck took it's toll. It wasn't long before he was moaning and cursing, as she had a short time before. She felt a shift in the intensity of his thrusts, heard his breaths come in short choppy pants. "Aw! Ffff—uuu-cccc—kkk, meeeee." He moaned as his body jerked and spasmed inside her. She was still trembling when he finally withdrew from her. They both laid on the floor, staring at his ceiling. "I've missed you, Vix" _

_She replied with a sniffle, "I've missed you too, Jean." _

"Vix"

"Hmmm."

"VIX!"

"Hmmm?"

"VIX!" Luann called for the third time with a highly amused grin on her face.

Vix jumped slightly, completely busted, to quote that old song, _having day dreams about night things in the middle of the, well morning_. "What?" She managed to respond.

Luann smiled, knowingly. "So you and Juice are good then?"

Vix just nodded and took another bite of her bagel.

_**XXX The Redneck Calvary Arrives XXX**_

_**X Greetings & Salutations X**_

"What the fuck is this?" Clay asked as he watched Motor and the other men step out of the trucks that had just rolled into the TM lot along with a few bikes.

Jax smirked as he stood beside his step father. "Looks like the Redneck Calvary has arrived."

Clay turned his head to stare at his step son. "Did you do this?"

"Nope."

"Call the Parkers, get them here and make it non-specific. I want to SEE their reactions to this little arrival. I wanna see if they made this request before I call BB and inquire what the fuck part of _let Charming handle shit_ didn't translate to Southern-speak."

Jax nodded and pulled out his cell phone. He didn't really give a shit who had called the Bama crew, he was happy to see them. Things had been going downhill in Charming lately, he welcomed having a few more brothers around.

Tig walked out of the office and strolled over to where Clay and Jax were watching the newcomers. He feigned surprise and asked, "What's going on? Holy shit...that's Motor."

"Yeah...looks like our Southern brothers have decided to pay us a visit." Clay deadpanned and then asked his SAA. "Know anything about that?" Before Tig could respond the Bama crew came walking over and the greetings began. Clay plastered a huge fake grin on his face and went to shaking hands with the visitors. He was shocked to see TNT; the once President of the Bama crew had pretty much become a recluse in the 15 years since his horrible wreck. For Travis to come down off the mountain, this trip had to be a big deal.

The other SAMCRO guys came milling out of the garage and joined in on the greetings which quickly became a flurry of handshakes, hugs, smiles, and back slaps. Motor and another guy came walking over to Tig.

A lean guy with a bald head grinned and extended his hand to Tig. "Bodie Hogan...no relation."

Tig frowned as he shook the guy's hand, "Relation to who?"

Bodie widened his eyes as if to say _you're kidding me _and then clarified, "The HULK...Hulk Hogan?

I get that all the time cause of the shared last name."

Motor looked at Tig and shook his head in annoyrance. "He does NOT."

Tig just stared at Bodie with a half smile of amusement on his face thinking, _Crazy bastard. _

_**X The Summons X**_

Jaci had just finished changing out of her pj's and into more suitable attire. She had gotten a lot accomplished by working from home that morning and was heading to town to meet up with Vix and start clean up work on the salon, hopefully without any screaming or punching this time around. Her phone rang as she was pulling her hair into a ponytail. She sighed when she saw the caller ID, it was a co-worker. After five minutes of touching base with Beryl, her fellow accountant at the firm, work was squared away for the day. She had more of it coming to her in email but that was fine. She was just glad everyone at the office was so supportive of her and understood she needed some slack to take care of the fire pit that the salon had become.

She let out a little grunt of frustration when her phone rang again and muttered. "Come on, Beryl...I've been gone for a half a day! The world still turns!" But it wasn't it her co-worker on the phone this time...it was Jax, with a very direct ORDER for her and Vix to come to Teller Morrow immediately. Jaci only had time to agree, not question as Jax promptly hung up on her. She grabbed her car keys and headed to the garage, calling Vix as the garage door pulled open. They were to meet at TM and see what the hell was going on together.

As she turned on her blinker light to signal her turn into the TM lot, Jaci's stomach clenched with dread. She had a bad feeling about what was waiting on the other side of the gates, hell she couldn't remember the last time being at TM resulted in something GOOD. She blew out a breath and rolled into the lot. As she drove, a group of guys standing near the garage bays caught her eye. She glanced at them only long enough to notice they were wearing cuts but kept her focus on parking the car. As she killed the engine she wondered if maybe the guys were going on a run, maybe Jax needed her and Vix to look after Abel? But then again, didn't he have Tara and Gemma for that? Surely Jax wouldn't SUMMON her to TM to assign babysitting duties.

_**X Familiar Faces in the Crowd X**_

She stepped out of her car and scanned the parking lot more intently. She saw the usual suspects standing around, it really was a wonder any work got done at the garage. She let her eyes fall on the next group of guys and noticed the matching huge black Ford trucks. She frowned as something about the trucks seemed familiar and then her eyes landed on Trace Cope, he was a fairly distinct figure at 6'6".

"What the hell?" Jaci muttered and took a step toward the group; that's when she realized who all was standing by the Bama VP. "Holy shit!" She exclaimed as a huge grin slid across her face. She covered the distance to the group in long strides, forcing herself not to run. As she got closer she called out, "What the hell are ya'll doin' here?"

Clay looked over to Jax with an eyebrow raised. So much for the theory that the girls called for Southern Assistance, Jaci seemed genuinely stunned. If she was faking, she deserved an Oscar. A wolf whistle was sounded as Bodie grinned at Jaci. "Goddamn! You look good girl!"

Tig frowned as he watched Bodie take Jaci by the hand and spin her around, ogling her before hugging her. He'd have to keep an eye on that fucker. But he couldn't say he blamed Bodie...Jaci did look good that day. She was far from her normal work day apparel, today wearing jeans and a gray thermal with a dark blue t-shirt over it. She had her hair pulled back and work boots on but she was a stunner none the less. Maybe the gorgeous smile on her face had something to do with her appeal; a smile on either Parker girl's face was a rare commodity these days.

Bodie's attention was immediately torn though as Luann and Vix roared into the lot in Luann's bright red convertible Corvette. He struggled with multitasking, hugging Jaci while he tried to check out the Vette. As Vix recognized the Bama crowd, she popped out of the car.

"There's my girl!" Nolan yelled and took a few steps away from the crowd. He stood with his arms opened wide and a grin on his face as Vix ran full blast towards him squealing, "DUMBASSSSSS!"

Jaci turned and watched as Vix tackle hugged Nolan and the pair landed on the pavement. She shook her head and laughed but went back to greeting the rest of the guys. Trace gave her a warm smile as he came sliding over to her. If BB was essentially her daddy, Trace was more like her favorite uncle. He wrapped his huge muscular arms around her and lifted her off her feet in a gentle bear hug, never disturbing the black cowboy hat that rested on his head. He held her close to him and whispered in her ear, "Good to see ya girl...wished it was a bit happier occasion. But we're gonna fix all that, ok?"

Jaci nodded as he put her back down on her feet. She looked to the next surprise standing in line for her... TNT. Words couldn't even express how happy Vix would be to see her Godfather. Jaci gave him a nod and the older man hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. They didn't need a lot of words, both knew what a big deal it was for him to be standing on California soil.

Finally it was Motor's turn to greet her. She gave him a look that clearly said _You sly little devil_. He stood grinning as she cleared the distance between them. Several feet away Bobby cocked his head and mused to Chibs who was standing beside him. "Look at that...Motor's grinning. I didn't know he could smile."

Motor extended his hand and Jaci slapped it then pulled him into a hug, just like guys would. Sure they were cousins, but they were damn good buddies overall. She whispered to him, "What are you DOING here?"

His deep voice rumbled back, "Little birdie told me you could use some help."

"Well you heard right." She said as she pulled away and looked back to the chaos behind her. She shook her head, overwhelmed with the moment.

Motor stood with his hand on her shoulder. "You look confused."

Jaci laughed slightly, "Yeah, I think I'm a little out of the loop today. First you guys are here and now my little sister shows up with the _Porn Queen of Charming_."

"No shit?" Motor asked with amusement.

"No shit." Jaci replied but shook her head and concentrated on her cousin again. "Damn, let me look at you!" His wavy dark brown hair had grown to rest on his shoulders and his beard, which had always been bushy, now hung to his chest. It was amazing how much someone could change in just a few months. She reached out and ran her hand down his beard, pulling it slightly. "Rock N Roll Jesus...you look like Rock N Roll Jesus!"

Motor smirked and batted her hand away. "Ya like it?"

"I don't know." Jaci frowned but smiled, very amused with her cousin's drastic appearance. He was an intimidating figure anyway with his cold staring eyes and stout figure but the hair had just amped it up considerably. But there were a few more changes she was about to notice that would seal the imposing figure deal. As Motor pulled his right fist down his beard to smooth it, Jaci noticed something tattooed across his knuckles... the word _MEAN_.

"Stanley Johnson! What did you do?" Jaci hissed. Tig had been watching the pair and took a step closer to see what she was ranting about. She grabbed Motor's left hand and looked at the new tat, _ONRY_. She shook her head and looked at her cousin as he made a fist with both hands and let her hold them for inspection. "Been listening to a lot Waylon lately?"

"You could say that." Motor replied with a smirk. The song _Lonesome, Orny and Mean_ had been the inspiration for the new tattoos. He knew Jaci would hate them...she was very cool when it came to tattoos but for some reason she had always hated tatted knuckles, thought they were stupid. He didn't expect much complaining from her, after all he thought getting Chinese shit tatted on ya was dumb but he didn't chew her out for the shit he knew she had on her back.

Jaci shook her head with disappointment but sighed. "Well, I'll give ya points for at least putting MEAN across your power punch hand." But his left hand was no laughing matter, Motor was one HELL of a fighter, she pitied any man that was on the receiving end of his punches, tattooed or not.

_**X Evidentiary Conclusions X**_

Clay watched as the Parkers greeted their family. If Jax didn't make the call, it was clear the girls didn't do it either and that left only two options...Juice or Tig. Juice stood off to the side with Bobby and Chibs, just as wide eyed as the Parkers with the Bama crew's arrival. That left ONE guilty party. Clay turned and looked at Tig, who stood looking fairly smug. He chose this moment to walk over and violently clamp down a hand on his SAA's shoulder. "A word please..." He hissed through gritted teeth and the pair walked away from the group.

"So YOU did this? Didn't think to run that by your PRESIDENT first?" Clay seethed.

Tig shrugged and tried to put a spin on the issue. "What's the problem? Look at em...the girls are happy, no more SAMCRO suicide watch needed. Bama'll rebuild their salon. One phone call and the Parkers are out of your hair."

"So I'm supposed to THANK YOU for going behind my back?"

"Wasn't like that, man." Tig answered with a frown. He didn't like Clay's tone at all, all accusatory and high and mighty. "Look...there was a problem...so I took care of it. Since when do you mind me doing THAT?" A hard look passed between the two and suddenly it was hard to tell if they were still talking about the Parkers.

Clay just nodded, still obviously irritated. "Yeah...well...that little talk we had about PRIORITIES a while back? Don't make me repeat myself." He cut a hard look to where Jaci was standing off in the parking lot now talking to Juice and then looked back at Tig, who had his jaw clenched. "You, Bobby, and Juice are the official Redneck Welcoming Committee. Keep em happy and out of the way."

_**X Hey, Jealousy X**_

Finally finished with her Bama greetings, Jaci noticed the odd look on Juice's face. She followed his frowning gaze as he watched Vix, his girlfriend, literally LAYING ON TOP OF ANOTHER DUDE in the MIDDLE OF THE PARKING LOT. Vix sat straddling Nolan, both of them were laughing and cracking up as they cussed and slapped at each other. Vix was was wiping away tears but Juice couldn't tell if they were from happiness or just laughter. Either way she was showing a shit ton more jubilation than she could seem to muster since before they'd broken up... and it was directed at someone else. His bad feelings were instantaneous and he quickly slammed the lid on them but Jaci had seen it, jealousy tinged with a bunch of other stuff.

Juice had his arms crossed over his chest but Jaci managed to loop one of her arms through and stood with him as they watched Vix finally roll off Nolan and help him to his feet.

"I saw that." She said quietly. Juice glanced at her with a look of _saw what. _She shook her head, "THIS is the time, Juice. RIGHT NOW, when you're feelin' like you are... this is when you ASK before your head gets all crazy. My sister and Nolan have been best friends since they were 15 years old. You ain't got a thing to worry about from him...unless you fuck her up beyond fixing and then he'll probably kill ya. So just simmer down, Juicey. She's just happy to see him. They're super close...sorta like a Jax and Opie equivalent."

"I'm NEVER straddling Op like that. I love the dude but that would be nine kinds of gay." Jax piped in with a smile. He had seen the dark look on Juice's face and followed Jaci's lead in squashing the jealousy.

Juice snorted a laugh, despite his wariness. He saw Vix make another mad dash to another Bama Son, the one everyone was calling TNT. He watched her throw her arms around him, the old man held her a long time. He whispered to her and smoothed her hair with his hand. When Vix pulled away, she crying real tears but a bright smile soon spread across her face as she took the old man's hand and started pulling him in Juice's direction, yelling, "Hey baby! You have to meet someone!" Juice plastered a smile on his face and walked to greet them.

_**X Accents & Dead Horses X**_

Bobby and Chibs stood smirking as they watched the Parker girls flit from one guest to the other. It was nice to see the girls with smiles on their faces for a change. Bobby laughed as he heard Vix talking a mile a minute to TNT and Juice, her hands were flying around gesturing, she was completely happy.

"You notice their accents instantly got thicker when those guys showed up?"

Chibs laughed as he nodded. "Aye..it happens when ya get 'round your own people." He winked at Jaci as she smiled at him then moved to talk to Tig. Looked like she was happy and back with Tig, those two were better with each other than without.

As Jaci leaned in close to say something to the SAMCRO SAA, Motor and Trace watched as Tig brushed his lips against the side of her head. It was a quick subtle gesture, but tender none the less. The Sons exchanged a look. Trace frowned and muttered, "Thought that was a dead horse."

Motor shrugged, "Don't reckon dead horses make phone calls asking for help."

Trace just sighed. "Well, FYI-I ain't sharing that little tidbit of info with BB right now. I got a big enough headache already."

_**X Shit Talkin' & Pony Jackin' X**_

Vix grinned up at Opie and proudly explained the whole Nolan hug thing. She had her arm snaked around the Bama Son's waist and he had his looped around her neck. "Juicey is still #1... but Nolan is my #2 in my heart."

Opie chuckled "#2 hmm?" He looked to Nolan and smirked. "You know what that means?"

Nolan smiled widely, "It means I'm THE SHIT!" Vix and Nolan cracked up with laughter. They bumped knuckles, all smiles.

Trace watched the crazy pair and rolled his eyes. Bodie shook his head, "Somethin' tells me this rebuild woulda went a lot quicker if we had left his ass at home."

"Nah, his job was made clear to him by BB. Nolan's mission is to bring Vix back'round to good."

"Well enough of this huggy kissy shit. Let's go see the salon." Bodie announced and walked away from the group, heading toward Jaci's Mustang. He hollered over his shoulder. "Hey Dumbass! Let's check out the Pony!" Nolan excused himself from Vix and jogged to catch up to his friend.

Jaci saw Bodie staring through her car windows but didn't think anything of it. He had always had a bit of a fascination with her and Vix's rides, appreciated good old American muscle car. She went back to talking to Bobby, Motor and Tig. A moment later she heard the Mustang's radio blaring...Bodie had turned the car on and Van Halen's Panama was blasting from the speakers.

"Shit...I left the keys in it." Jaci mused and started to walk toward the car to tell her friends to turn it down. All she needed was a busted speaker to add to her overall annoyance. Bodie was like a bull in a china closet, always messing with something. He was fun as hell but God love him, he could grate on the nerves. She thought about the long drive from Bama to California and wished someone would have videotaped the journey, she could only imagine how crazy Bodie was for that many miles in a confined space. Two seconds later, Jaci heard the engine roar to life and Bodie squalled tires as he threw the car into reverse and zoomed to the middle of the parking lot.

Jaci threw her hands out, "No no no no! Stop the car, Bodie!"

Bodie was grinning from ear to ear has he rolled down the driver side window and revved the suped up engine louder. "What? I can't hear you? Speak up!"

"Get out of my car!" Jaci yelled and pointed her finger at the pair of car jackers.

Nolan pulled himself out of the passenger side window and sat on the ledge so he could look over top of the car. He laughed, "Oh come on, J! We'll bring it right back! Scout's honor!"

Jaci shook her head and started walking along side the car as the other people gathered around the lot began to laugh. Bodie fed off of the attention from the group. "You better hop in! Train's a leavin!" He laughed, gunned the motor again and starting rolling forward. He would wait until Jaci would get close and then zoom the car forward...then stop...then zoom again.

"SHIT!" Jaci hissed and started to jog around to the passenger side. There was no way she was letting those two idiots drive her car without her. She pointed a finger to Vix as she jogged. "Just meet us there, ok?"

Bodie increased his speed and Jaci had to take off sprinting to try and catch up. Nolan was half hanging out the window, coaxing her along. "Run Jaci run!" She finally managed to grab the window frame with her hand and dove head first into the passenger seat... and Nolan's lap. Her legs hung outside the window for a moment has Nolan hauled her inside. She smacked Bodie in the face and crawled into the backseat. Bodie let out a whoop and punched the gas, sending the Mustang roaring onto the street.

_**X Counter Offers & Cowboy Muses X**_

Luann and Gemma stood inside the office at TM watching the action. Luann was appreciating the looks of the newcomers and making comments on what some of those guys would look like on film, "Christ, I could have a whole cowboy-themed series center around the big tall one." She mused.

"Trace." Gemma supplied his name "VP of that crew."

Luann nodded and looks wistful, "Mmm, Trace...I like the sound of that."

"So speaking of the job offers... how did your chat go with Vix?"

"She's up for it but she made me a counter offer."

Gemma laughed. "Of course she did. What were HER terms?"

"Vix'll only only agree if I employ Rachel too."

"Both of those girls are better stylist than the ones Caruso lured away."

Luann sighed. "I know and with the loss of her salon I thought I would have access to her talent for a while but now... 'Bama being here to fix her shit. How much of a wrench does that throw?"

Gemma shrugged. "Salon ain't gonna get fixed over night, not even those boys are that good. I'd say a couple of weeks but who knows. Maybe the wild child and her BFF will find a niche workin' wonders on porn stars."

"Maybe," Luann replied. "Vix is worried about how Juice will react. He didn't look thrilled at her reaction at seeing that 'Bama SON."

"Yeah well the honeymoon is over and now it's sink or swim." Gemma said with a roll of her eyes. "Those two both have a lot of shit to work through."

The two women watched as Vix, riding with Juice, and a mixture of Charming and 'Bama SONS roared out of the parking lot. TNT, opting to leave his bike in the trailer he was hauling behind his truck, brought of the tail-end of the pack headed for the remains of Twisted Scissors. 

_**X Getting' Down To It X**_

The Bama crew was all business once inside the salon. They spread out and with the girls telling them what had been located where, they quickly inspected the damage. The girls had gotten lucky and the blaze had been put out quickly so the damage had been contained but was still pretty serious and inconsistant. Some areas had mostly cosmetic damage, a good scrubbing and some new paint might be able to do the trick but other areas needed stipped to the foundation and rebuilt. The salon equipment was a total loss and needed hauled out and replaced.

Jaci followed the guys around the salon, notebook in hand, as Trace dictated what all supplies they needed. After a while he stopped and smiled at her. "This is kinda nice...its like you're back home helping out on a job." Jaci smiled and rolled her eyes. It was very nice to be around the guys again and the moment did feel similar to those summers her and Vix had spent in Bama, usually assisting on a construction site. When Trace had rattled off his last item, he held his hand out for the list. "Let me see it."

She handed it to him and he passed it along to Nolan. "Take Bodie with ya and get it all."

Jaci started to protest, "Trace, we can't afford ALL of it. We're going to have to pick and choose and ..."

Trace pointed his finger at Jaci, "Shush. All you and your sister gotta do is stand there and look pretty. This is on us."

"Trace, no way." Vix piped up as she walked back into the main room. "We couldn't ask ya'll to...'

"You ain't askin' shit...and we ain't offerin' either. We're DOING IT. End of story." TNT clarified with a smile.

Again Jaci started to protest but Trace held out his massive palm over her face, "I said shush." While still holding his hand in place he nodded at Vix, "Go with the boys, show em around." Vix nodded and headed out. TNT and Tig wandered out the front door to smoke. Trace finally moved his hand to Jaci's shoulder and gave it a squeeze then winked at her.

"We'll pay you back...every penny. When the insurance ...IF the insurance pays." Jaci frowned, "Either way, you'll get your money back, I promise."

Trace shook his head. "We don't give a shit about the money, J. Hell TNT is bankrolling most of this...old man's got more money buried in his back yard than any one of us will ever make. Rather see you girls doin' good with it. You try to pay him back, he's liable to break your hand."

Jaci snorted a laugh and resided herself to taking the help that was being given. She smirked suddenly. "Why do I picture a long row up empty coffee cans covered in dirt on TNT's porch?"

"Cause there were." Trace replied with a raise of eyebrows. "Come on now, let me grab a smoke."

_**X Thanks, Little Birdie X**_

Jaci waited until Tig was just about done with his cirgarette. She nodded toward the salon, "Talk to you for a second?" He up nodded and followed her inside, through the salon and out the back door to the patio.

He had just shut the door when Jaci suddenly turned around. She covered the small distance between them in an instance and pushed him up against the brick wall. She took his face in her hands and pressed her lips to his while pushing her body against him. A moment later she slid her tongue in his mouth and kissed him harder. He didn't have a clue what was going on but went with it, his hands moving to her hips.

She pulled away from him just as abruptly as she had started but kept her head next to his for a second and whispered in his ear, "THANK YOU."

He stared at her with amusement. "What'd I do?"

She smirked, "Those boys didn't show up on a whim." She had unknowingly followed the same process of elimination that Clay had earlier that day. She started with Jax, then thought Vix had called the guys, then moved on to long shot that Juice had done it. Motor's comment had sealed the deal, Tig would be the only one to call him. She stared at Tig with serious eyes. "Thank you for calling them...for helping us...for helping me. We were too proud...wouldn't have asked for help."

Tig shrugged, quickly becoming uncomfortable for the attention his little phone call had gotten him. He played the task off as no big deal. "I told you I'd fix it, right?"

_**X Home Sweet (Temporary) Home X**_

The rest of the day was spent organizing before the guys had to head back to the clubhouse for Friday night Chapel. Temporary living arrangements were settled, Vix would continue to stay with Juice and Rachel would stay at a friend's house so that Jaci could take Motor, Trace and TNT in at Parker Place. Tig would get Nolan and Bodie settled into a dorm room at the clubhouse. A few phone calls were made and Bobby promised to help cook every night to feed the large crew, he sent Half Sack over to go grocery shopping with Jaci.

_**XXX Death Stares & Certified Scares XXX**_

Saturday was a huge work day. Everyone was up and out the door at 7am. Juice and Chibs headed off to get the building permits from the County, Juice of course knew a guy who could hook them up on a Saturday. Vix tagged along with Bodie and Nolan, lists in hand to get the first round of supplies leaving the rest of the remodel crew at the salon.

Motor began what would become his morning ritual while in Charming, giving a five minute death stare to the men that stood outside of Impeccable Smokes. He glared at Zoebelleand Weston's smirking faces and said quietly to Tig, "Tell me again why we ain't settin' one of those assholes on fire."

Tig didn't have an answer for his friend, he could only shake his head. He clapped Motor on the shoulder and the pair disappeared inside the salon. Minutes later they hung huge tarps up over the windows. The remodel was going to be a private affair, much to the disappointment of the LOAN men, they wanted to keep a close eye on the Parkers and the new Son arrivals.

It was a long, productive day and Jaci didn't make it home until late. The girls had eaten pizza downtown with the guys and everyone headed to their respective home away from home for the night. TNT and Trace walked inside the house as Motor waited in the middle of the driveway while Jaci checked the mail.

She thumbed through the stack as she walked along in the trail of the security light but then stopped dead in her tracks. "Shit."

"Shit what?" Motor asked as he held the front door open for her.

Jaci looked at the note in her hand. "I've got a certified letter to pick up. They missed me because I was gone all day." When Motor failed to exhibit the proper reaction, Jaci stared at him. "This is bad, Motor. The only time you get certified letters is for like lawsuits, you know legal notifications."

Motor walked on inside the house. "Or maybe if you won the lottery."

"I wish." Jaci sighed then seethed. "Damnit." She stared at the notification and cursed the sender for not correctly completely the form...the place for SENDER was left blank, leaving her to rack her brain for possibilities. She quickly excused herself and headed for her bedroom but she didn't sleep. She spent most of the night thinking of every possible bad ending. Was it the bank? Was it the insurance company? Was she finally getting sued for all those illegal music downloads from Limewire?

_**XXX Thoughts of Going Postal XXX**_

Sunday was a day of rest...but only for God. The Parkers and their helpers were back at remodeling, only Jaci wasn't very helpful. She was edgy and distracted. She hadn't wanted to worry Vix about the mail she had received but at lunch time when Vix asked her what the problem was she couldn't hold it in and spilled her guts.

"And the damn post office is closed on Sunday so now I have to wait until tomorrow morning to find out what's going on." Jaci explained. "I mean hell, are we being sued ALREADY? You told me you spoke to the bank about getting an extension."

Vix nodded. "I did, they told me they'd give us a month's leeway... said they'd take it and interest and tack it onto the end of the loan. You can ask Juice, he was with me, he knew the guy at San Jaw Savings and Loan."

Bodie could see Jaci was upset and tried to help. "Well ya know it could be worse, they coulda process served ya, so maybe certified ain't that bad."

Jaci just frowned. "I wonder how hard it is to break into the post office?"

"I know it's a weekend but just chill, J. We'll be first in line on Monday." Vix soothed, happy to be the voice of reason with her sister for a change. She patted Jaci's shoulder.

"Hell, can't be too hard to bust into that place...half the doors are always open anyway, so people can check their PO boxes and shit, right? You want in that place, I'll get ya in, J." Bodie said in a conspiring tone.

"Excuse the pun, but have you both gone postal? No one is committing a Federal Offense just so Jaci can find out if she and I are facing a Civil one." Vix announced, slightly amused.

_**XXX Made Whole XXX**_

Monday morning found Vix and Jaci standing inside the lobby of the post office, the first in line waiting for the steel dividers to be rolled up and for business to officially start.

Vix was eyeing her sister. She was very worried about potential fall out from whatever CERTIFIABLE DISASTER lurked behind the counter. She watched Jaci sign for the letter and then scan the outside of the envelope. She peaked over J's shoulder and saw the return address, Hale's insurance company.

Jaci shook her head, thinking the letter contained an official denial of claims. She turned on her heel and muttered, "Boy that was quick. Did they rush it thru the denial process?" She handed the letter to Vix and walked away shaking her head in frustration.

Vix sighed and opened the envelope, figuring she might as well see the bad news in black and white print. Only when she stared down, she wasn't looking at a 'we regret to inform you...' note. She was staring at a check, a BIG ASS check. Vix was shocked MUTE, which was extremely rare for her, only little sounds were coming out of her mouth. Finally her brain connected with her feet and she rushed after her sister, who was halfway to the parking lot by then. She managed to shout, "J!" She received no response, well other than her sister waving her off over her head. Vix planted her feet and then hollered, "JACI!"

Jaci spun around, annoyed. "WHAT?"

Vix held up the envelope "It's NOT a denial." Jaci stood there blinking and frowning, not understanding. Vix hurried to her sister's side and showed her the check. "We need to get to a bank NOW. I'm half scared this thing will self destruct like some message on Inspector Gadget."

Suddenly Jaci was struck with a thought, she flashed back to the codes inspector when they were FIRST remodeling the salon. "It's _GA-JAY_." Relief washed over her and she didn't know how to react to the feeling. Was everything really going to be ok? Could they really get past this hurdle? She snorted a laugh and then started full on laughing uncontrollably.

Vix eyed her sister. _Shit, she's officially lost it. _She corralled J into the the passenger side of the Mustang. "I'm driving."

_**XXX Good Lookin' Out XXX**_

Vix made a pit stop at TM and found the usual suspects at work. Juice spotted the car and headed out to meet her in the lot. He eyed Jaci who was still seated in the passenger side. _Christ, now what?_ "You guys alright?"

"She'll be fine. We'll both be fine." She glanced back at her sister then back to Juice. "That other night, when you said you took care of the insurance _cluster_..."

Juice grimaced, "Shit babe...was that certified thing from Hale? I'm sorry. I swear to..."

"They paid the claim! All of it... it was a check." Vix blurted with obvious elation. "I don't know what you did, I don't want to know... but thank you!"

His heart swelled at the sight of the first genuine smile from her directed at him in what felt like FOREVER. "No problem, the fire wasn't your fault. You didn't deserve to ..." His words were cut off when she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

When she pulled away, she smiled. "I gotta get that over to the bank so my sister can start paying our invoices and then I gotta meet TNT, take him to Memorial Gardens."

He nodded and sighed, "What time do you have to be over at Cara Cara?"

"Um, Lu said around 4, said to expect a late one." She smiled and blew him a kiss as she walk back towards the car but then veered off back towards the garage, suddenly.

Vix spotted Clay and walked straight to him. "Hey. I just wanted to say thanks. I appreciate everything you and the other guys are doing, have already done." She took a deep breath and continued. "I know I was pretty adamant that my salon was not tied to this club... that was stupid of me. Some bonds are undeniable." She glanced over at Juice then focused again. "Just wanted to say thanks... and if you want me to kick up to the club... I'll figure out how to budget it in."

"I think you've got all the protection you need." Clay quipped and eyed Juice. He shrugged, "I'm glad to see you made whole... by whatever means."

"Me too." Vix started to the car again and threw in one last note. "Um, my sister and I are having a family dinner over at Parker Place. Tomorrow night. EVERYBODY is invited."

Clay chuckled and nodded his acceptance. He muttered to himself, "Some bonds ARE undeniable." He glanced over at the office and winked at Gemma, who was watching thru the window.

_**XXX Hasty Retreats & Heavenly Assists XXX**_

Later that afternoon, Unser pulled his police cruiser to a stop in the lot of TM. Clay eyed Tig and the both exchange a _now what_ glance before walking over to meet the Chief of Police mid-parking lot.

"Afternoon." Unser said with a nod.

"What brings you by, Chief?" Clay inquired. "Car sounds like it's running fine."

Unser answered bluntly. "I got a shipment I need to make sure completes its journey to the Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Help."

Clay smirked and raised his eyebrows. "Doin' God's work now are ya?"

"Doin' my part... spreadin' The Good Word."

"And you need SAMCRO to deture the Devil from interfering."

Unser shrugged. "Thought it wouldn't hurt for you boys to earn a few heavenly brownie points but if SAMCRO is all Right with The Man, maybe your Southern brethren would be willing to lend a hand. Them hailing from a place a bit closer to The Bible Belt and all." Unser explained with a smirk of his own. "Oh and speaking of...it may have been my imagination but I believe I saw Vix Parker zipping by on the back of an old Electra Glide being helmed by an older gentleman. They musta been doin' about hundred and five out by Memorial Gardens. There ain't nothin' in Charming that needs to be run from at that speed... unless they wanna end up planted in that Garden. I suggest someone remind them of that."

Clay snorted. "You keep wanting me to do your work load I'm gonna demand an honorary badge and half your annual salary."

"Two badges." Tig added, looking completely serious.

"Funny." Unser deadpanned. "Look just talk to Vix. I heard about her little death wish. As much as I don't want to see that happen, I'd hate worse to see her take someone else out with her."

Tig smirked. "We'll handle it."

"Vix or...?"

"Both." Clay replied. He spotted Juice walking out of the club house. "I'll let you discuss the details with my business manager." He nodded at Tig. "Handle it."

Clay walked over to where Juice was talking on his cell. "What time does the ship Bon Voyage? What? Sorry yeah, disembark. Ok, yeah, I'll hold.." He looked up to find Clay standing in front of him.

"Goin' on a cruise?"

Juice shook his head. "Nah, Gram and the Olds... some Mediterranean thing. They watched that god damn movie and now they are all about their bucket lists. Ooh, hang on. Yeah I'm still here... what? Four senior citizens, no none of them are wheel chair bound or walker aided. For your information senior citizen does not mean invalid. Sure... ok... thanks." He ended the call and slid his phone into his pocket. "Sorry 'bout that. What's up?"

"Vix in a hurry to go somewhere this afternoon?"

"She and um, TNT were heading out to the cemetery to her folks graves. Why?"

"Unser said they were doin' about a buck-oh-five. That seem excessive given that JJ and Dawn aren't goin' anywhere?"

"Little bit." Juice mused and eyed Clay, not really sure what he expected him to do. "You want me to talk to her? I'm sorry if I'm sorta confused here, Clay. Since when was quenching a Need for Speed a crime?"

"Doin' One-oh-five in the broad daylight... on a two-lane.. headed outta town has always been a crime. We've already had one ol' lady wreck recently, we don't need another. Tell her to watch her ass cause she's drawing attention."

"Ok, you got it... I'll talk to her."

"Good." Clay said with finality and turned his attention to Tig as the SAA walked over. Juice eyed them both before muttering under his breath and heading back into the club house.

_**XXX **_

"Hello, old friend." TNT muttered at the headstone in front of him. "Dawn." He nodded his accord at the spouse of his friend. "Never thought I'd get another chance to bid you greetings in person, this side of the Great Divide that is. Don't much like to leave home no more. But when word blew my way that your girls were in trouble... well, what choice do you reckon I had?"

From a few paces away, TNT heard Vix's wry laugh. He shifted slightly and eyed her over his shoulder, "You got somethin' you'd like to add, young lady?"

"Nothin' he'd want to hear."

"Well then I guess it's good for you and bad for him that he finds himself such a captive audience now ain't it?"

Vix eyed the headstone hesitantly."You comin' all the way here to help Jaci and me in our time of crisis...that was far more effort than that man ever extend."

"Your Daddy loved you, Vix."

"He wanted sons, Tee. And he reminded us every damn day that we weren't."

"So did Henry the 8th... and look he got the best damn son he coulda ever asked for in Elizabeth."

"Oh lord, here comes the history lesson. You really need to get out more... being cooped up, only books and your dogs for company is doin' some crazy shit to ya."" Vix snapped. "Besides Daddy made it real damn clear that we'd never be good enough. Wendy up and quit tryin', Jaci pushed harder and me... well, let's just say I think I learned to swim so early just so I could rock the boat and not drown myself." She felt fidgeted, uncomfortable. "I think I'll go wait at your bike, leave you to your visit. Me comin' here was a real bad idea."

"I don't tend to agree. What better way to clear the air? Lay it all out... tell JJ every damn thing- good, bad, ugly... _retarded._"

"Juice? " She nodded towards the headstone, "He'd never understand or accept that. He'd never give it a chance. Hell, I'd like to think that my happiness would trump his prejudices but I seriously doubt it and in all honesty I don't rightly care. I love Jean Carlos Ortiz. He really is The Brass Ring for me. Not everybody is gonna understand it or accept it but I've never had a guy willing to inconvenience himself in the slightest for my benefit and yet Juice is willing to wade through all this shit for me, WITH ME."

TNT cocked an eyebrow. "Not counting Nolan? Cause that boy'd do damn near anything for you."

Vix shook her head. "A) I've never _LOVED, _ loved Nolan. We are buddies and B) you are correct, he would do DAMN NEAR anything but Juicewould do THAT and a little bit more. He loves me, Tee, with an intensity that scares the shit outta both of us because it has the means to burn us, too." Vix started to pace as she tried to explain herself.

"And yet, it's almost like I don't have a choice. Me and him being busted up there for a spell only proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt. My place is beside that man, even if it burns me, and the way shit is going it just fuckin' might. Those racist fuckers burnt up my shit almost torched ME in the process, then they come visit me and pretty much say without saying that the fire should be a warning NOT to be wrapped up with Juice? With the club? I've done a lot of crazy shit, used up more than a few of the 9 lives people claim I must have but I never thought simply loving someone could be dangerous."

"You're always gonna have people don't approve of what you're doin' or who." TNT advised.

Vix laughed. "So I'm supposed to turn the other cheek and let 'em say what they want? Do whatever damage they will because they they believe their way is the only one?"

"I didn't say a thing 'bout turnin' the other cheek. Roxy is always big on the Bible so I know you've heard at some point that even the good Lord directs us to stand up and fight against curses and false judgment. We aren't to roll over and play dead. The Good Book tells us to let those around us know what is not right. You keep on the firing line and you fight and be brave against evil in all its forms. And darlin' trust me, it comes in many."

Vix shook her head and smiled. "Oh Christ. Seriously? What's next, _the __truth will set us free_?"

TNT chuckled. "Oldest tag-line on record, baby girl. When hope is gone and the darkness has fallen, you look to love. The family that loves you, the love you say your man has for you. Love, Vix...love is light and light doesn't have to announce its way into a room or ask the darkness and hate to leave it just IS! Love and light they walk ahead of you and the darkness rolls back, recedes like a tide. It has to because darkness and hate can't be where light and love is." TNT stared at his beloved goddaughter. "And you're gonna have to forgive this old man his sentimentality...but I have to believe that Jesse'd be proud of how you girls turned out. I have to believe that or I couldn't continue to think of his as a friend and brother."

"You think so?" Vix's voice cracked in the slightest little way.

"I do."

"He'd be proud of us... even Wendy?"

TNT contemplated that question for a second and then chuckled. "Two outta Three ain't bad... and darlin', your daddy was a bettin' man."

Vix smiled and hugged her godfather and the two walked back to his bike. The old man stopped mid-path, "You know.. I reckon I gotta ask. Your man... those those tattoos on his head..I know everyone just chalks it up to some deranged flight of fancy but I get the feelin' that it's more than that. I get the feelin' that that boy is deeper than the roadside rut that some give him credit for."

Vix nodded and looked over at TNT. The old man might be a crazy bastard by design and made more so by life but he was good at reading people. That could be either a pro or a con depending on the situation. "Jean-Carlos is um, more than just surface deep. The bolts have very significant meaning, he'd never just randomly ink something on his body let alone somewhere so prominent as the side of his head. I know the story, it's deeply personal and it ain't mine to tell. If you really want to know, ask him. He'd probably be proud to tell ya. Most people don't take the time to ask, they just chalk it up to retardedness. Juice is NOT retarded, just a whole lot ADD and a bit socially backwards,"

The older man chuckled slightly. "Victoria Parker in Protection Mode... that must be one hell of a story."

Vix smiled and nodded. "Yep. If you do ask him, say I told ya to ask him about Keith Whitley."

TNT whistled, "Well now, you've gone and left me no choice, sugar. You know how big a Whitley fan I am."

**XXX ****Down The Rabbit Hole**** XXX**

"Do you think it's too fuckin' cliche to say I think we've stepped through the goddamn Looking Glass?" Rachel muttered to Vix as they entered the studio at Cara Cara later that night and looked around.

Vix sighed, "Well, we sure as shit ain't in Kansas."

Rachel laughed. "What was your first clue... the _white board_ directives, _Practice Your Orgasm Face!_ or _I__t's All About COCK CONTROL!"_

"Like the Hokey Pokey...THAT's what IT's ALL about!" Came a male voice suddenly. The girls turned in unison and were greeted by the sight of a dark-haired, tan skinned hunk with a good physique and a dominant presence. "The new girls?" He asked. Between the slightest twang in his voice and the way his lips pursed tightly together, standing there he resembled someone who could be cast as a yokel in a Puerto Rican remake of Deliverance. Vix just stared.

Rachel's face held an amused grin as she informed the guy, "We're the new stylists."

**XXX Been There... Done That XXX**

"This cannot seriously be happening." Tiff brought her hands up, palms out, fingers spread in the universal diva sign for_ WTF_. "Holy...fuck, Ima. She's here!" 

"Don't be a drama queen. Who are you even talking about?" Ima questioned, irritated as she looked up from the mirror where she'd been studying her reflection. She found Tiff fanning her face.

"Juice's psycho ex-girlfriend!" She hissed quietly."Well, not so much his EX, anymore."

Ima glanced at Vix and rolled her eyes, snorted. "Don't tell me you're actually scared of that little tattooed freak." 

"She threatened me! Stole Juice back. You promised I wouldn't be just a rebound girl." Tiff pouted. "I really liked him."

Ima rolled her eyes. "Look, that bitch has no salon, no money." She snorted in disgust, taking in Vix's attire, "And obviously no style." She turned and plastered a reassuring look on her face. She took Tiff by the shoulders and said. "Give Juicey a few weeks to come around...and then she'll have no boyfriend... again. Once a cheater, always a cheater. There's no way in hell she didn't fuck that professor. Probably the only way her dumbass could get a passing grade."

"What hell are you two still doing here?" Luann asked. As she apporched she scanned the area and spotted Vix and Rachel looking over one of the white boards. She turns to the two actresses. "Look, I got enough of a headache trying to wrap up _Spanish Fly Pussy_ so that we can start filming on the next feature. All that shit with Caruso set us way behind. I need those two... they are talented stylists."

"And if she starts shit with us?" Ima asked and crossed her arms over her surgically enhanced rack.

"She won't." Luann replied then eyed Tiffany. "Juice Ortiz is a lost cause, sweetie... move on." She rolled her eyes at the pout that formed on the younger girl's face. "And I suggest you both call it a day. I need you both on top of your game for Thursday. Leave by the backdoor."

After watching the two actresses leave, Luann wandered over to where Vix and Rachel were congregated, reading over the board listing sexual positions:

_**POSITIONS (Learn 'em, Live 'em, Love 'em):**_

_The Cross Buttocks_

_The Pile driver  
The Cowgirl  
The Reverse Cowgirl  
The Standing Cowgirl  
The Saddlebag  
The Doggie  
The Dirty Doggie  
The Scissor  
The Scissor Mash  
The Sixty-Nine  
The Standing Sixty-Nine  
The Blow Job  
The Reverse Blow Job  
The Wheelbarrow_

Vix nodding along as she read through them. "WOW... sounds interesting... ain't got a clue on those three... yep, yep, oooh yep...ha that one is fun, ok, of course." She began giggling. "Oooh, tried that one... was going pretty good until Juice dropped me on my head when he was settin' to blow his load."

Beside her Rachel just groaned. "Ya know I thought my life was full of experience and crazy-ass adventure and then I meet you and realize... I've lived the life of a goddamn nun."

Vix laughed, "A Jewish, lesbian nun... currently involved with a Wiccan Priestess."

_**To be continued...**_


	17. Chapter 14 Bama Bondage

**Walk Away from the Son****  
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SoA  
****Chapter 14- Bama Bondage**

_**By BG and Reaper**_

_** So glad you all enjoyed the last chapter. Trust us, your requests for more Bama, smut, and some Cara Cara revenge have not fallen on deaf ears. Matter of fact, we already had stuff written! Just be patient, the next few chapters will make you all very happy._

_Be sure to leave us a review! We are getting VERY busy in our personal lives so writing time is becoming hard to find. We want to make sure we aren't just writing for ourselves and like 4 other people! Show the love!_

_Check out 'Whistlin' Dixie' by Randy Houser. We sort of think of it as the Bama Crew's theme song. And Randy is the inspiration for Motor's brother, so enjoy the visual._

_.com/watch?v=VmLXHjuyg0c&ob=av2el_

_**XXX TRUCK FULLA VIRGINS XXX**_

Tuesday night found the Sons' crew split, the majority were at Parker Place visiting before dinner was put on the table but a smaller contingent was standing in the lot at Unser Trucking, set to drive/escort the load he had told the Sons about on Monday. Tig pulled a set of keys from his pocket and poppped the lock on the pull down door of the large truck. "Let's see what we're hauling."

"What're you doing?" Bodie asked with concern.

Tig shrugged. "Transport fee."

"I thought this was a charity shipment, Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Help?" Bodie asked as he scratched his head. "You don't wanna go stealing from the Lord, Tig. You think Karma's a bitch, just wait till you piss God off."

Tig waved him off and smirked. "I piss the Old Man off on a daily basis, this isn't gonna make a dent."

Bodie shrugged. "You might change your mind later...repent one of these days when you're seventy or something."

"Ain't nobody standing here gonna make it to seventy, man." Trace scoffed.

"You don't know that." Bodie replied with a frown but it was for naught. Tig motioned for Happy to continue.

Hap climbed up into the truck and pulled out his flashlight. He walked around the wooden crates and picked one. He pried it open with the crowbar he was carrying and rooted through the shredded paper packaging. The other guys stood on the ground looking up at him expectantly as he pulled out...a fuckin' statue. Hap flicked the painted statue of the Virgin Mary with his finger.

"Great... put it back." Tig sighed with disappointment. "Let's deliver this shit to the penguins and go eat."

"Can I have one?" Bodie asked as he stepped to the back of the truck to take a closer look.

Tig frowned at Bodie's whiplash flip flop on the situation. "Whoa...NOW you're ok stealing from the Lord? Fuckin' hypocrite."

"Well...it's just a ceramic thingy. I thought we were hauling some expensive church shit. Besides, I think it's kinda pretty." Bodie commented as Happy lowered a ornately decorated statue to his hands. "And I promised Trinity-Ann I'd bring her a present from Cali-forn-IA."

Trace snorted. "What the hell is your kid gonna do with a statue of the Virgin Mary? Get her Minnie Mouse ears from the damn Disney store, tell her they're from Disneyland and be done with it."

"You want me to lie to my kid? Seriosuly?" Bodie asked with mock offense. "I want a statue, maybe two. You know Roxy'd like one, she's all religious-like."

"Fine." Trace rolled his eyes. "Happy, please give our crazy ass brother here another statue."

As Bodie cradled the first statue in his left arm like a baby, Hap handed him down another one. They somehow managed to bobble the exchange and the second statue slipped and crashed to the ground. It shattered on impacted with the pavement and the hidden contents spilled out. Everyone stared in surprise.

"Holy Mother of Christ." Bodie mumbled in awe which earned a snort of laughter from Tig, who then frowned and looked to Bodie still cradling the first statue. As if stripping a football, he reached out and slapped it out of Bodie's arm to see if it was a fluke. It wasn't. Tig climbed into the truck. Hap was already holding another statue and Tig gave him the ok nod to smash it. The same contents were revealed.

"Praise Jesus! Hallelujah." Trace announced as he looked around at the scattered loot on the pavement. "This is a bit obvious, ain't it? I mean, people hide coke in this things in the movies all the time."

"Best place to hide is in plain sight." Hap mused before he smashed a fouth statue, only to reveal the same thing- seemingly black market, unsecured VISA cards. "This shit ain't going to nuns, might stop for the night but its blowin' right past them."

"No shit. What are a buncha nuns gonna do with credit cards?" Bodie questioned. "They can't buy nothin, not even underwear. They take that oath thing...that vow."

A second later, Hap let out an uncharacteristic full on chuckle with his deep rumbling voice. Tig eyed him. "You were picturing a buncha holy sisters goin commando weren't ya?" Hap nodded with a smile. Tig laughed along with him for a second and then pulled out his cell phone. "So much for heavenly brownie points... I gotta call Clay."

He walked further into the truck's interior cargo bay, phoned Clay and explained the situation. As tempting as it was to hijack the whole damn truck, Clay instructed him to just lighten the load a bit. Tig ended the call and walked back to the end of the truck. They took a quick estimate of the statues being hauled, extracted their delivery fee then cleaned up their mess and got ready to hit the road.

Tig grimaced as he climbed back down out of the truck and onto the lot. Hap noticed his friend's obvious discomfort. "Leg still stiff?" Tig nodded.

"What's wrong with your leg?" Bodie asked. "You seemed a bit gimpy at the shop the other day."

Tig rolled his eyes, "Rolled my bike a while back. Ended up with twenty seven stiches in my leg. Ask Bobby for the story, his fuckin' fault." He tossed the truck keys to Happy, who would drive the nun's loot with Bodie riding shotgun. Trace and Charming's own SAA would be following behind in the club's van. As the men loaded up, Tig looked over in the direction of the back parking lot and saw two Dobermens barking furiously. He held his middle finger high in the air and smirked at the dogs. _Fuck you, Fido. Can't get me this time._

_**XXX Party at the Parkers' XXX**_

**X Nolan's Patch & Vix's Past X**

Parker Place was filled to capacity. People were strung out all over the house, seated in little groups at the dining table, the living room, the back porch. As she left the kitchen, Gemma watched with amusement as Motor wandered from group to group, carrying Abel. Her grandson had become fascinated with Motor's long beard and currently laid in the man's arms with a fistful of it. Motor was oddly good with kids, especially babies, they seemed to like the fact that he was so quiet and they felt peaceful and secure in his big arms. Jax and Tara sat laughing in the living room with others as they listened to Nolan tell stories of Vix and Jaci's times in Alabama. That was the drawback to a family gathering, they would tell stories on you. Gemma silently wished Roxy was here with a few photo albums for maximum embarassment. Clay and Piney sat with TNT at the dining room table that flowed into the living room, swapping old war stories.

Opie took a swig of his beer. "What I wanta know is how Dumbass got patched in. We have a height requirement in SAMCRO."

Nolan chuckled and looked over at Vix who was sitting on the arm of the sectional, next to Juice. She nodded her consent and he answered. "I guess they made an exception. BB let me prospect if I agreed to drop the felony charges against Vix."

That statement got everybody's attention and suddenly everyone within hearing distance was staring at the 'Bama biker and Juice's old lady. She smiled. "I guess that begs a few questions, hmmm?"

TNT just shook his head, "Here we go."

Nolan began the tale. "We were what fifteen?" Vix nodded. "And me and my best-friend-at-the-time-who-I-cant-stand-anymore-but-am-obligated-to-endure-because-we've-known-each-other-since-we-were-three, Davey Church AKA Preacher, were out toolin' around in my brand-spankin-new Chevy S10 pickup out by Mohegan Ridge. We came across Vix here hitchhikin' after jumpin' off the railroad tressel into the river below... wearin' not a stitch of clothing."

The room filled with laughter and more than a few catcall whistles.

"Really? She was completely naked?" Jax grinned and laughed.

Vix held up her hand, "Ok, it wasn't my most shining moment to NOT have a spare set of clothing waiting at down on the shoreline. But in my defense it was, if I recall, about 102 in the shade that day." Vix rolled her shoulders and faced the eager audience. "And the way he's gonna tell the story, it's gonna take all night. Why don't ya cut to the chase and say it was the first of many crazy adventures and it involved um, skinny dippin, hitchhikin', bummin' smoke money from the offerin' at the Methodist church, and stealin' a case of Jack D from the _Bait-Chips-Beer-and -Ammunition Store. _Then we hung out in the backwoods of Alabama getting' high and drunk all night... then wait.. I got y'all to fight and wrestle to see who would um, _win me _and while them boys were busy doin' that I stole Nolan's pickup." Vix grinned. "I was halfway to Talladega when that fuckin' State Trooper pulled me over."

TNT shook with laughter. "That story never gets old."

"Yes it does." Motor disagreed as he handed Abel back to Jax and eased himself onto the living room floor.

"Yeah, she stole my car... and Davey's heart." Nolan shrugged. "But I got my Reaper and Vix still loves ME... while HIS ass got kicked to the curb."

"Where it rightfully belongs...good riddance to bad rubbish. The racist dumbshit." TNT muttered.

**X Whip It... Whip It Good X**

Tig and his band of Merry Men arrived an hour late to the dinner gathering. The other guys went deeper into house but he headed straight for the kitchen, knowing he could grab a beer and snag a bite of whatever Jaci was cooking. He pulled up short though when he heard voices bickering.

"Bobby...my arm is seriously about to fall off. Are you almost done?"

"Two minutes."

She groaned. "You said that FIVE minutes ago!"

"You HAVE done this before right?" Bobby asked. "I really thought you'd better at this."

"Shut up...it's worked other times. I'm doing what I'm supposed to. Maybe if you'd CONCENTRATE, we'd be done!" Jaci complained. "Don't look at me...look at IT."

"Not stiff enough...almost there though."

Tig frowned and stood in the doorway with an amused smile on his face, trying to figure out what the hell his girl and Bobby were doing. He had a guess but Jaci really shouldn't be doing THAT in the kitchen and not to Bobby of all people. He finally peeked around the corner and saw the pair at the kitchen counter. Jaci had her back to the door with Bobby in front of her, looking down as her right arm jerked back and forth vigorously. _What the fuck?_

"Shit...I really need to switch arms." She hissed through clenched teeth.

"Nope...just keep going...ok, that's it...that's it. We're good, ok stop!" Bobby exclaimed. "Oh that's fuckin' beautiful. Good job, J...very good job."

As he realized what was really going on, Tig snorted a laugh and walked full into the room.

Bobby frowned at Tig's sudden appearance. "What're you laughing at?"

"Different kind of beatin' than I was thinking." Tig replied with a smirk.

Jaci grimaced, "Ok...EWWW!" She sat the bowl of hand whipped merengiue on the counter and stared at it. "Now I'm going to be thinking of jizz when I'm eating this pie."

Tig grinned and winked at her as he grabbed a beer then headed out of the kitchen to find Clay.

**X Slice of a Different Pie X**

The SAMCRO President was seated at the table in the dining room, Tig motioned for Clay to follow him outside. As they walked through the house, Tig snapped his fingers in Juice's direction. "You too, Retard. Come on."

"Gather round, gentlemen, gather round." Tig said as he pulled something from his inside cut pocket. He shuffled the stack of credit cards like he was about to play poker, fanned them out and cocked an eyebrow at Juice. "Can you move these?"

Juice let out a low whistle as he took the Visas. "Shit yeah...easy. I know a few guys that would love them."

"Get what you can for them." Clay directed. He saw Tig raise his eyebrows in question. "What?"

Tig shrugged. "'Bama should get a cut of the profits... come on, we wouldn't even know that shit was in there if Bodie hadn't dropped one of the statues to begin with."

"I'm supposed to cut them in because Bodie's got butter fingers?" Clay asked incredously. The pair stared at each other for over a minute with Juice staring at them, growing uncomfortable, like he shouldn't be seeing the standoff. Clay finally relented and smirked. "Fine...give twenty percent to Trace." He glared at Tig. "Gas money for their trip HOME."

**X Crisis at Cara Cara X**

Dinner concluded without a hitch, the meal Bobby and Jaci had prepared was wonderful and everyone was stuffed full, even though Jaci couldn't bring herself to have any of the chocolate pie. Especially not after Tig had stared at her as she started to take her first bite of it and had ever so subtly made a whacking off gesture with his hand. She had pushed her desert plate over to him without a word.

As the women and Half Sack loaded the dishwasher and cleaned the kitchen after dinner, Vix got a text from Rachel. She walked into the living room and spotted Juice and some others. "Um, anyone care to guess what qualifies as an beauty crisis at a porno shoot?"

"One of the chicks got a flat tire?"Nolan quipped and held his hands in front of his chest to simulate huge fake boobs. That scored a few laughs. Vix rolled her eyes and walked to the back porch to call Rachel. She returned two minutes later. Nolan raised his eyebrows, "So? The answer is..."

"Some dude mistook Rach for a _fluffer_." Vix replied and then explained, "Ya know, the girls who um, help prep the guys for the scene. I've gotta go defuse the situation before Rachel stabs someone with her shears." Vix hollered to Jaci, asking to borrow her car and her older sister agreed, yelling back that the keys were on the hook by the garage door. "Of course they are." Vix muttered with a smile.

As Vix kissed him and told him she'd back in a bit, Juice thought of Georgie Caruso and grimaced. "You shouldn't go by yourself, not with all the shit that's been going on."

"You're waitin' on an important call, no go." Tig reminded him and nodded at Vix, "Take someone else."

"Oooh, I'll go!" Bodie's hand shot up instantly. He stood up and put his hand over his chest."Safety is VERY important to me. I personally volunteer to happily guard as many bodies as possible." He glaced at Jax and Opie and waggled his eyebrows.

Vix rolled her eyes, knowing Bodie was just going to gawk at the porn stars but whatever."Fine...but I'm drivin'."

Bodie smiled and oddly didn't put up a fight. "Don't mind riding bitch on the way to a porn studio...I'll suffer the degredation."

"Lookey there, somebody's been studying the Word Power section of the Reader's Digest." Trace retorted as he took a pull from his beer and stretched out in the recliner.

**X Siblings: The Contented and the Non X**

Another hour or so after dinner and dessert were served, the party began to thin out. Most of the guests had left and TNT had turned in for the night. Trace had retired to Vix's room, talking to BB on the phone, giving him an update with the goings on in Cali. On the back porch, the firepit was roaring in its full glory and Tig sat with his arm around Jaci on the wicker couch watching the flames silently.

Juice and Motor sat at the patio table on the opposite side of the deck, passing a joint back and forth. Along with a ready construction crew, Roxy had sent another care package of sorts: jars of homemade canned peaches and plum jelly. BB had contributed a few jars of his own to the package, although they were full of moonshine. He had also tossed in a substantial bag of premium Southern grown majijuana. The Sons might not run drugs, but they sure didn't mind procuring some for their own use every now and then.

"This is some really good shit." Juice hissed as he held in a hit as long as he could. He blew out a long breath and relished the relaxed feeling as he passed the joint back to Motor. He had been trying to make small talk with Vix's cousin but so far had only gotten yes or no answers. He thought on another topic. "So...Vix said you had a brother? He patched in?"

Motor snorted and shook his head. "I got a brother...but he ain't fit to wear a Reaper."

Juice was surprised not to get a one word answer and caught Motor's irritated tone. "Oh...bad blood?"

"Not bad...just stupid...and mostly worthless." Motor replied. The pot had him loosen up a bit and he took a long look at the kid in front of him. It looked as if ole Bolt Head was going to be around long term, Vix was surely smitten with the guy. Motor figured it might do em both good to get to know each other, Juice was certainly trying to make an effort.

Motor leaned back in his chair. "Name's Randy...he's bout five years old me. Like that damn Dukes of Hazzard song, been in trouble with the law since the day he was born. Always into something- fightin', stealin, druggin, always goddamn something. I missed the camera thingy when the salon first opened up cause I had to go pick his convict ass up. Just finished doing a nickel over at the State Pen in Holman. Got busted with a shit load of weed, was his second time locked up. They tried for a Federal charge but couldn't make it stick."

"Lucky for him." Juice commented.

"Lucky hell...fucker needs locked up. Just pissin' away his life. Randy's a fuckin' brilliant mechanic, can rebuild anything, get ANYthing running but he won't stick with it. Ya'll think meth is bad out here...its a goddamn epedemic back home. Randy don't use it, but he loves to make it, sell it, money's too damn good. Why bust your ass working an honest job when ya can do that shit? He stays clear of it for awhile, we get back on speaking terms but then he always goes back to it. Guess it IS lucky he was hauling pot that day and not crank."

"Puts you in a rough spot...with the club and stuff huh?" Juice offered.

Motor nodded, his mood dark. "Damn straight it does. The club...they's been more family to me than that asshole ever has. I ain't puttin' them at risk for his stupid shit. I can't be round him when he's sideways. Feds would piss their pants if I got picked up with him, me being a Son and all." He shook his head in frustration. "Won't ever understand why he can't just straighten up and fly right."

Juice nodded in argreement, "I totally get that, I bet the girls would love for Wendy to finally get her shit together." As he took another hit, he couldn't help but feel a bit philosophical about the whole situation. "I can't really complain too much though. I mean, Wendy's being a fuck up is what got Vix back out here to Charming...to ME. I never would have met her otherwise. And now the girls get to be around Abel and help raise him...they never would have had that opportunity any other way." He rubbed his hand over his head, mulling it over. "Maybe it all happens for a reason. People do the things they do...even bad stuff...and it causes something else, something good?"

"That tattoo needle hit your brain or something?" Motor stared at Juice like he was crazy, "Ain't no good gonna come out of Randy...ever."

Jaci heard Motor's tone take an angry turn and looked in his direction across the semi darkened deck. He always got agitated when talking about Randy. He was angry but more than that, he was frustrated and hurt, had never come to terms with why Randy wouldn't just be normal. Motor would have loved to have Randy patched in with the Sons, to share that brother hood with his blood relation but he couldn't risk it. She knew that if they kept talking about the subject, Motor would just get worse. It had been a good night, she wanted it to end that way too.

She leaned forward slightly, leaving the comfort of being curled against Tig's body for a moment. "Hey, Cuz? Time for bed, baby." Her voice sounded like a mother talking to a six year old but the interruption served its purpose. It snapped Motor back to his surroundings and he complied easily.

"Yeah...I reckon it is." Motor said quietly and stood up, his shoulders hunched. He walked back into the house without a word.

"Shit, J. I didn't mean to make him mad." Juice said as he stubbed out the joint and looked toward the door.. "I was just trying to talk to him."

Jaci settled back in her spot next to Tig, who was dozing. "He's not mad at you, Juice. He gets mad at Randy, himself. It's a shitty situation. No worries though, he'll be right as rain in the morning."

Vix arrived back to Parker Place just as Motor was heading down the hall to bed. She smirked at her cousin. "Night, John Boy." He threw a silent wave over his shoulder. Finding the rest of the house quiet and deserted, she headed out to the deck. "Honey, I'm home!" She announced as she placed Jaci's car keys on the table beside the wicker sofa. Juice turned around in his chair and smiled at her. She smiled back and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind. "Ready to go?"

"Yep." Juice answered and stood up.

"I'm stealing Juicey here." Vix said brightly. "See ya tomorrow, sis."

"See ya." Jaci said from her seat on the couch. The pair left, leaving Jaci and Tig all alone. He pulled her closer against him, not making a move to head home. The night was getting colder but with the fire pit flaming, it wasn't too bad. She had no problems staying right where she was at for as long as Tig wanted to cat nap.

**XXX Missing Links and Magic 8 Balls XXX**

Wednesday was a story of the same shit, different day and passed without any drama. Jaci spent her lunch hour on Thursday eating while she worked at her desk. But she didn't mind, for the first time in a while she was happy and relaxed. With the insurance money coming through and the guys putting it all back together, she was sure things were going to be ok in that area. It was great having the guys up from Bama, they had been a God send. Very soon, Vix and Rachel would have their jobs back and life could get back to some version of normal. She frowned at the word normal. Her newfound relationship with Tig was anything but normal, she didn't have a clue a what is was...but she liked it. She was starting to let herself fall back into old habits, starting to look forward to seeing him every day, talking to him. They hadn't discussed where things were going this time around and she didn't plan on it either. _Que Sera, Sera. _What will be, will be. She had come to realize that every day she was in Charming was another day trying to teach her to just let go of things, she couldn't control everything.

As she sat thinking about her so called normal life, she suddenly realized there was a piece missing. The everyday life of her and Vix had come to include some kids...Abel, Moby, Kenny, Ellie. She had done a fairly good job of keeping up with Abel but with all the salon fire madness, the other kids had been sort of abandoned. Jaci felt horrible for dropping the kids like that...those three were at a sensitive time in their little lives, they needed friends, role models. She pulled up the internet and found the listings for the movie theater in Lodi. Surely there was some sort of a kid's show playing tonight. BINGO, her eyes landed on the showtimes for Monsters Vs Aliens. Her next call was to Mary and then to Lowell to set up the kiddie date night.

Just as she confirmed her plans for the night, there was a knock on her opened office door. She looked up to see Jason Rosen smiling at her. "Working lunch?" He asked as he walked inside.

Jaci nodded. "Yeah, I'm trying to get out of here early. I've got a hot date tonight?"

"Where are we going?" Rosen asked playfully.

"I'm taking Opie's kids and Moby to the movies."

"Ahhh. Well, I guess I'll sit this one out. I know Moby thinks the world of you, I don't want the little guy to think he has any competition." Rosen winked at her as he smoothed his tie and sat down in a chair across from her desk. "How are things with the salon going? I saw the windows were all covered."

"Actually things are going great. The insurance claim went through and we've got some family up from Alabama doing the re-model. Our uncle runs a construction business so he just shipped some of the guys out West for a bit."

"That's handy." Rosen commented. They made small talk for a few minutes before Rosen noticed the Magic 8 Ball sitting on her desk. He smiled and picked it up. "Oh I remember these things."

Jaci laughed and teased. "Yeah...helps me decide which numbers to fudge."

"Maybe I should get one...help me decide which clients are guilty." He mused then started to shake the toy.

"Be careful what you ask that one. It hasn't been wrong yet. It was right about things I didn't even see coming. Even gets sport matchup's right." She warned.

"Mmmm." Jason smirked and asked the toy a question, his lips moving silently. He looked down at the answer displayed and nodded. "You're right, it IS good. That guy is totally guilty." He glanced at Jaci and smiled slightly before asking another silent question. He shook the ball hard and then peered down at the answer triangle swam in the blue liquid, the words 'Definitely Yes' were displayed. A smile spread across his face.

"Got an answer you like?"

"Definately." Rosen replied. He stood up and placed the toy on her desk. "Well, I'll let you get back to work. Just wanted to say hi." He looked at her for a long moment and then nodded. "I'll see you around."

Jaci waved at him as he walked out of her office. She stared at the 8 ball and wondered what the hell he had asked it. She shrugged and grabbed the toy, asking a question of her own. "Will Tig and I have some good times for a change?" She shook the ball for a full thirty seconds with her eyes closed. She opened one eye and peered down for the answer..._As I see it, YES. _She smiled and let out a sigh of relief.

**XXX Evil Twins & Lost Virtues XXX**

"I'm a professional cocksman, Delaney."

Inside her office, Luann stared down the leading male star of her current production. "Then act like it. I don't give two shits if you're gonna blow your wad two minutes after the camera starts rolling but know your body. Control your shit and fucking tell the director! We'll set up the cumshot and then go back and get the hard core later. NOW we don't have a goddamn thing and I'm stuck paying a 12-person crew and two bankable other actors to wait around while you try to get it up again!" Her tyraid was interupted by a knock at the door, "WHAT?" She wheeled around to find Bobby standing in the doorway. "Not now, Bobby."

Bobby shook his head. "YES, NOW! Unless you want to change the title of this movie from _**Cumming Atrtractions **_to _**Cumming IN Traction**_, You better reign in The Evil Barbie Twins. Vix is exhibiting the patience of a saint or someone after a 1200 mg dose of Thorazine but patience is a virtue and Vix is 'bout ready to be come un-virtuous real fast... then shit is gonna get hostile."

"Jesus Christ!" Luann muttered accompanied by an eye roll as she stormed out of her office and out into the studio off-stage area. As she made her way towards the dressing area she spotted the confrontational scene between Vix and Ima and Tiffany. "What the fuck is this shit? Huh?"

Vix glared at Luann. "I warned you about making me work on that cunt." She nodded at Tiffany. "And that one." She glared at Ima. "Fuckin' hell."

"And I told you that this morning's delay put us behind, Tiffany's scene got pushed back... shit happens in this business, Vix. Last time I checked you were the winner of the _Juicey lotto_, so what the hell is the problem?"

"I'm doing you a favor, Luann."

"No... you're working for me, Vix." Luann corrected. "Maybe you should get BACK to work, so if Rodrigo ever achieves wood again my girls are ready to finish this fuckin' scene."

Vix eyed Bobby, who shot her a stand down look. She sighed and plastered a big ol' fake smile on her face then looked at Luann. "Yes, ma'am." Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the gratified smirk on Ima's face. "But I think it would be in everybody's best interest, Luann, to remind Your Girls NEVER piss off the hair and makeup stylist. Cause WE have the ability and know-how to make their asses look like Dr. Evil on the worst mother fuckin' day of his life."

Luann gave Vix a concedeing look and eyed Ima and Tiff. "I suggest you two park your asses, curb your attitudes and show some god damn respect, And if I've made myself perfectly god damn clear... can we get on with it and wrap this fuckin' movie? "

_**XXX Bodie Hogan, Porn Star XXX**_

For most of the guys, Thursday night was meant to be a night of relaxation after a long day of working. They gathered at the clubhouse and after a while a poker game was started. With Bobby and Piney at Cara Cara for the evening, the task of playing banker fell to Half Sack. He took everyone's buy-in money and exchanged the dollars for poker chips.

"Fuckin' concentrate, Prospect. 1-2-3-4..." Tig warned. The Prospect glanced up at Tig nervously but managed to get all the guys what they needed. With everyone content with their beer and their playing chips, Opie began dealing the cards.

They were half way through the first round when Bodie and Nolan came strolling through the door. He spotted the poker game and grinned. "Hey, hey...hold up, we want in." They grabbed beers at the bar then walked over to the table. Nolan dug into his jeans pocket and threw a twenty dollar on the table.

"Shit...cash game." Bodie mumbled. "I ain't got but a few bucks." He pulled something from his wallet and tossed it into the middle of the table. "Will this work?"

Half Sack picked up the paper, which was actually a check. He frowned. "This is from Cara Cara."

Bodie grinned like a fool. "Read it and weep, boys. That there makes me a bonafide porn star."

Trace's eyes went wide. "You did NOT!"

"Bullshite." Chibs chimed in as he inspected the check. "Three hundred and fifty bucks!"

Nolan nodded his head sadly as he sat down next to Motor, "He damn sure did. I was there...I'm scarred for damn life."

Bodie smirked and accepted a high five from Chibs. Tig just laughed as Opie shook his head in amazement.

"You watched it?" Trace asked incredulously.

"I saw more than enough before taking an immediate smoke break." Nolan clarified.

"I was just kiddin' about cashin' that in, bro. Let me have that." Bodie told the Prospect and snatched the check back. "Hell I might just frame this sumbitch."

"Might be your life's greatest accomplishment." Opie deadpanned.

**XXX Animal Magnetism XXX**

After two rounds, Bobby and Piney showed up and they too settled in at the table. They had been making random small talk all night but as talk with guys usually does, it eventually turned carnal. Chibs cleared his throat. "Alright boys, name someone famous, dead or alive, that would be your dream fuck."

Bobby snorted a laugh. "For clarification, Tig...the dead part means they'd be alive again and back to breathing."

Tig just smirked and flipped his friend off. Bodie saw the amused looks from the other SAMCRO guys and was immediately intrigued. He frowned at Tig. "You really fuck a dead chick? That's fucked up, bro."

"What do you Southern boys like to say, 'a gentleman never tells'?" Tig replied with a shrug. He couldn't believe Clay had told Bobby and Piney about the comments he had made about cold packing. Granted he had been kidding, but now he wouldn't admit it...had to keep up the aire of mystique.

"That aint all he's rumored to have done." Bobby laughed. "Tell 'em about your little 'indecent exposure and assault in a livestock trailer' charge, Tigger."

Tig glared at the celing for a second,irritated. "Goddamnit, Bobby...for the last time...I didn't fuck that cow. I was using it for LEVERAGE."

"Ok, that's a story I wanna hear." Trace boomed with a laugh. "Spill it."

Tig quickly recounted how a hookup with a lovely senorita at a Mexican rodeo had turned violent when her husband had busted in on the festivities.

Nolan nodded along as Tig told his story. "See? That's how I got in trouble. Those damn cowgirls are ready to GO at some of those rodeos. You got get it on where ever you can, man. I didn't give a shit if goats were watching us. I dropped trou and got down to business."

Motor spoke up, "You nailed her in the back corner of the kids' pettin' zoo, That's wrong."

"Why?" Nolan asked with a shrug. "Weren't any kids around. I don't know what the big deal was. Stupid cops putting LIVESTOCK in the charges makes its sound like I'm some kind of pervert."

Tig took a pull from his beer."'Amen, brother. I didn't fuck any LIVESTOCK, I fucked the girl."

"So you claim." Op kidded and took a shove in the arm from Tig.

**X That's Just Nuts, Man X**

"Ok, guys new game...we're switching to Texas Hold Em" Op announced as he shuffled the deck.

"Shit...wait a sec." Nolan threw up his left hand and dug into his pocket with his right. He tossed another twenty dollar bill at Half Sack."

"Count careful, Prospect." Tig warned. "I think you jipped me earlier you little shit. Do it again and my boot is going to smash that new nut of yours."

"New nut?" Bodie questioned.

Chibs slapped a hand on Half Sack's shoulder and explained whistfully. "Our Prospect here's been a bit out of pocket...getting himself completed."

The Bama guys all frowned, not understanding. Half Sack stared at the table then looked up to explain. "I got a ball blown off in Iraq...I just got a fake one."

"You're shittin' me." Bodie said wide-eyed. "Like getting a glass eye?"

Tig couldn't help himself. "Is it gay that I want to see it?"

"Gay curious." Bobby piped in with a shrug.

Chibs looked at Half Sack and pointed downward, "Drop em."

Half Sack gave a smile, oddly proud of his new addition. He stood up and dropped his jeans.

"Well I be a monkey's uncle." Bodie leaned over the table and inspected the nuticle. "That thing looks damn near perfect."

Nolan coughed in his hand, "FAG...cough...FAG."

Tig smirked as he looked over Half Sack. He shook his head. "I think its uneven."

"Well...I think all sets are kinda uneven." Half Sack tried to explain.

"Naw man, my balls are equally huge." Tig declared. "Might wanna like duct tape that new one a little higher or something."

"Alright...put your pair away, Prospect." Chibs instructed.

Half Sack complied and then sat back down at the table. He made a move to grab his cards and Trace threw a poker chip at him.

"WHOA! Goddamn, son...go wash your hands!" Trace hollered. "I don't need your nuts all over my cards and shit."

As the Prospect headed to the bathroom, Bodie called after him. "Don't listen to Tig about that duct tape. You don't want that shit any where your balls, dude."

Trace chuckled heartily. "Go ahead, tell the story, Hogan. I'm sure Tig here would love to hear it." Tig gave the Bama VP an odd look then looked at Motor who just smiled ever so slightly.

"Ok, ok, once upon a time..." Bodie took a pull from his beer and then started over. "Once upon a time back home in Alabama, two tricky Parker girls thought it would be a good idea to mess with one poor drunken Bodie Hogan."

"Uh oh." Opie said with a laugh.

"Just wait." Motor warned.

"I guess this was like five years ago...some random Tuesday night at the clubhouse. I don't even know why the girls were there but I was drunk off my ass. I mean fuckin' PLOWED. They told me later I was going and on about this girl I'd been seeing. Actually me and the chick had broken up."

"Um, she dumped you, Hogan." Trace clarifed.

Bodie waved him off. "Whatever...either way, I was upset, going on about this chick and how I was going to go find her and get back together with her. The girls spent like an hour trying to talk me out of it, tellin' me how this girl was bad news, I believe Vix called her a 'cheatin' worthless bitch' but the drunker I got, the more determined I got. But I tipped the scales on drinking and passed out...and THAT'S when they attaked me."

Bobby laughed. "Attacked you?"

"Yep...they knew if I woke up, I was going to go right back to my mission of getting to this girl so they decided to somehow keep me at the clubhouse. But instead of just locking me in a room or something...oh no...they had to get CREATIVE. Little shits dragged me to the middle of the clubhouse and DUCT TAPED me to the goddamn floor."

Laughs erupted from the SAMCRO guys and Tig just shook his head with amusement.

"Oh wait...wait." Bodie held a hand up. "This was AFTER they stripped me down to my boxers. Because Miss Little Genius Jaci thought that I'd put up less of a fight when I woke up if the tape was attached to my skin."

"Was she right?" Bobby inquired.

"Fuck yes, she was right!" Bodie exclaimed. "You ever ripped that shit off your body? I got permanent bald spots on my chest."

"It was goddamn classic." Trace said. "We all walk in the clubhouse the next morning and there's Bodie...lookin' like a silver mummy, wigglin' his feet and strainin', cussin' up a storm. We tortured him for damn near an hour ripping that tape off him real sloooooow."

Op cocked an eyebrow. "So did you leave that girl alone?"

Bodie grinned sheepishly. "Hell no...hooked back up with that crazy bitch for a few years. Jaci and Vix were right, she is a worthless whore but she now IS the mother of my little girl so I guess something good came out of the deal."

_**XXX Mind Your Manners by Motor XXX**_

Motor drained the last of his beer and stood up. "Shit's getting' deep in here...I'm getting some air."

He headed for the front door of the clubhouse and Tig followed; Bodie was amusing but only in small doses. The pair stood by the picnic tables and stared toward the long line of bikes.

"I don't know you put up with Hogan all the time, man." Tig teased.

"I drink a lot." Motor deadpanned in reply. They shared a laugh then a comfortable silence filled the air but it didn't last long. There was something on Motor's mind. "So you and J...you back together huh?"

"Something like that."

"How nice were you when you dumped her a while back? Did you mind your manners?"

Tig grinned with amusement."What'd she tell you?"

"She wouldn't tell me shit...and when J doesn't want to talk about something, its gotta be pretty bad."

Tig sighed and looked out over the parking lot and answered honestly, "I wasn't very nice." He heard Motor crack his knuckles next to him and turned to face his Bama club equivalent.

"Made ya a promise when I left town last time. You remember? Warned you if ya got disrespectful with her, I'd come back and break your knees." Motor said evenly. "I keep my word, brother. I'll let ya slide on the knees since ya got a bum leg and all but I'm gonna have to knock ya around a few times."

Tig cocked an eyebrow. "How many?"

Motor shrugged and thought for a moment, "Least three."

"Better make it four." Tig replied with a sigh. He couldn't believe he was LETTING a guy hit him but God knew he deserved some sort of punishment for the bullshit he had pulled with Jaci. He had walked away from her and had the best of intentions of staying away, but somewhere along the way he had gotten tripped up and turned mean. He had told Motor he wouldn't hurt her and he had flubbed his end of the deal. Now it was time to pay the Bama Piper but he was oddly ok with that. Hell, this wouldn't be the first time he had played voluntary punching bag lately. Tig took a deep breath then teased, "Sorta feels like getting whipped by my dad as a kid. This the part when you tell me its gonna hurt you worse than it'll hurt me?"

Motor grinned. "Nope." Without warning he sucker punched Tig in the gut. The air whooshed out and as Tig tried to suck in some much needed oxygen, Motor wrapped his left arm around Tig's shoulder, almost holding him in a hug... then slammed a hard right hook into his ribs.

The punches weren't pulled, they were full throttle and hurt like a bitch. Tig laughed and coughed. "Shit! Goddamn it." He caught his breath and taunted his punisher, "Oh come on, Motor...at least TRY to make it hurt!" His request was answered as Motor pulled away from him and hit him with a straight left fist to the cheek. The final punch popped Tig square in the mouth. Motor, satisfied with his hits, took a step back and shook his right hand out.

Tig let his back fall against the wall. _Jesus! What's with this family and goddamn punches to the face!_The four punches were quick and efficient and enough to make him very thankful that he and Motor, overall, were on the same side. Taking on the Bama SAA in a real fight would be a tough rumble, especially if Motor had an iron head. Tig spat out blood from his semi split lip and smiled at Motor, "Happy? Feel better now?"

Motor nodded and extended his hand, Tig shook it; beef officially squashed. Both fired up a cigarette and smoked for a moment in silence. When they started to walk back inside, Tig smirked and inquired, "So what happens next time?"

"That's on J now...she's the dumb ass took ya back." Motor chided lightly. "But I reckon she'll take care of ya herself IF there's another time. First time-shame on you, second time shame on her sorta thing."

"She gives as could as she gets, man...I'll tell ya that."

Motor snorted. "I don't doubt it, brother." He started to walk back to the clubhouse. "You comin'?"

"Naa...think I'll go get my wounds licked."

"Man, don't tell me shit like that." Motor chided with a grimace. He shook his head in disgust but then said, "I'll keep everyone clear for a couple hours." Tig gave him a nod and headed for his bike.

_**XX**__**X Thursday Night Special XXX**_

Tig dialed Jaci's number as he sat on his bike. She answered and he asked simply, "You home?"

Jaci frowned at the out of the blue call. The guys were supposed to be spending the bulk of the night bullshitting at the clubhouse so she wondered why the hell he was calling. "Yeah...I just got in. Took Op's kids and Moby to see that new cartoon at the theater in Lodi."

"All three of them? At the same time?" Tig quizzed, not sure if her actions were brave or stupid. Personally, he could think of a thousand things he'd rather do that take a bunch of a kids to a movie, and being kicked in the balls was high on the list. He shook his head and got back on task. "Your roommates off playing hairdresser to the stars?"

"Yeah."

"Ok." Tig replied and then she heard the phone click. She stared dumbfounded at her cell. _What the hell was that?_

Ten minutes later there was a loud pounding on the front door. Jaci opened it and saw Tig standing on her front porch with a sly grin on his face. Her brow furrowed. "Why are you here exactly?"

"Bored." He answered with a smirk.

She looked him over and knew he was up to mischief. "Ooooh no. I know that look! We are NOT starting up the booty calls."

Tig laughed and started to step inside. "Oh I think we are."

Jaci pushed him back outside. "NO! This is a bad idea! My family is in town."

"Your _family_ is preoccupied for the next couple of hours. And who gives a shit anyway? Vix is shacking up with Juice and no one's blinking an eye." He pushed inside the house and got in her face, very much invading her personal space. "Look, we're both in a good mood for a change, I'm bored, AND I haven't been properly thanked for fixing your problems, so I'm cashing in. How's that grab ya?"

She watched as he walked down the hall and made a right turn toward the bedrooms. Jaci shut and locked the front door and then followed after him, muttering. "I guess it grabs me just fine. Goddamnit, here we go."

When she reached the bedroom door, she found him standing in the middle of the room with his boots and socks already off. His cut was laid over a up nodded at her, "Besides, it's Thursday. We used to fuck all the time on Thursdays. It's tradition."

Jaci scoffed as she leaned against the door jam, "Yeah, that was before you DUMPED me because being with me was pointless and a waste of time."

"Shut up." He replied as he pulled his black t-shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor. That left him standing in only his jeans and she couldn't help but sigh, thinking _damn he looks good _as she ran her eyes over his half naked form. But as she looked closer at him, she noticed the slightly busted lip and a light red spot on his cheek. "What happened to your face?"

"Don't worry about it." He answered and started undoing his belt one handed while he stared back at her. "Turn your brain off and just come here."

She tried to return the smile he was giving her but failed. She walked over to him and ran her hands down his chest, residing herself to what was going to happen and yelling at herself to just go with it and be happy for a change. _You were happy thinking about him this morning, now he's shown up to ravenge you...for God sake's go with it, girl! _He leaned in and kissed her but she pulled away quickly. "Ah...your lip...I don't want to hurt you."

He shut her up by grabbing her neck to hold her still as he kissed her hard. "You can't hurt me." He warned playfully.

A smile spread across her face and she bit her lip seductively. "Is that right?" He nodded and smiled back. A second later she ran her fingers through his chest hair, clenched her fist...and yanked hard. He yelled as she let out a laughed and ran for the bed.

"Oh your ass is mine now." He warned and took off after her.

_**XXX Sex Can Be A Dangerous Weapon XXX **_

They wrestled playfully on the bed. After an extended struggle, he pinned her down, straddling her hips. He pinched her sides alternately, making her squirm and laugh. "Got guard do ya?" She asked, referrring to the wrestling position. Too many hours of watching MMA fights over the years had her up on the lingo.

"Mmmmhmmm." Tig nodded with a smile as he stared down at her. "This is really too easy. You need to start boxing with the Prospect again, you're getting weak."

"Oh am I?" Jaci questioned. She sighed and gave a fake pout. "Guess I'll just give up then. Mmm, if we're not gonna wrestle, what should we do now?" She looked up at him seductively. "Come here." She licked her lips and waited until he had leaned flat against her body, his lips nearing hers before she grabbed a handful of hair from the back of his head and yanked him to the right while rocking her hips in the same direction. She rolled with the momentum and ended up on top of him. "One, two, three!" She yelled as she slammed her hand flat against the bed. "I win...sucker." She let out a laugh and stared down at him.

"You cheated." Tig growled from underneath her.

"We were playing fair? I didn't know that."

He moved his hands to rest on her hips and he looked up at her, long dark hair hanging down towards him. He shut his eyes and enjoyed the moment, felt her weight across his hips, her hands slayed on his biceps. He kept his face blank, she had no hint of what was about to happen. He opened his eyes and smiled slightly at her, she felt only the slightest tension in his muscles a split second before she was catapulted backwards off the bed. Her back slammed against the wall and the surprised look on her face was priceless.

Jaci barely had a second to recover before Tig was off the bed and standing in front of her, pressing his body against hers. She had forgotten that playing with him could be dangerous but he was very much done with playing now. He slammed his lips against hers in a hard kiss as his hands started pushing her shirt up. All of his movements seemed to serve an illicit purpose. He broke contact long enough to roughly yank the shirt over her head. He kissed down her neck and unhooked her bra defly as he bit her collarbone. In all honesty, what was going on could probably best be described as an assault, but if that was what constitued assault, she would glady sign up for it every day for the rest of her life.

As he stripped her, there wasn't much she could do except enjoy it and cling to him. She ran her hands along his back and felt the taunt muscles tweak and stole kisses when she could and as he pushed down her jeans, leaving her completely naked, she took his face in her hands and kissed him deeply, wanting to stop the tirade for _just _a second. As the kiss finally ended, she sucked on his tongue slightly, a signature move of hers that drove him crazy. He let out a growlish moan and pressed up against her. She squirmed, part from the pleasure of feeling his hardness against her but partly from pain...his opened belt buckle and zippered fly were digging into some very delicate areas.

She let out a frustrated whimper and his eyes locked onto her. Just minutes earlier, Tig's blue eyes had been playful but they had tnow urned lustful, determined and she swore they had darkened a bit, even though she knew that was impossible. He pushed against her again, admittedly just to hear that ever so slight whimper of pain from her. She reach down to work at his jeans but he drove her back against the wall. At the moment, he wanted to do things TO her, didn't want to have things done to him. He shoved his jeans and boxers down and stepped out of them as he pulled her by the wrist and pushed her onto the bed.

Surprisingly, in a lot of the past times with her, he had been very good about foreplay, even coming to like it. He'd get her worked up to the point she was practically begging for the real deal to take place, talk about an ego boost. But tonight his patience had suddenly dissolved and the only thing he gave a fuck about was getting inside her. She sat on the edge of the bed and started to scoot backwards to give him room to join her but he grabbed her by her knees and pulled her toward him forcibly. Still standing, he yanked her until her ass was just hanging off the bed.

In one fluid motion, he lined himself up and pushed inside her. Jaci let out a gasp that she immediately stiffled to a moan. He looked at down at her and saw she had her eyes squeezed shut. He was buried balls deep in her and realized that might have been a little too deep, too soon. Usually this position was one they moved to after getting started but at the moment he couldn't help himself. She felt so fucking good around him, he pumped into her a few more times before pulling out.

"Ok, ok." He breathed as he tried to control himself long enough to let her crawl backwards to the middle of the bed. The second she was settled, he covered his body with hers and slid into her again without pretense. He kissed her jawline and bit at her earlobe, while he whispered more of an explantion rather than an apology, "That's what you get for making me wait." He pushed deeper inside of her and heard her moan, a good moan this time. She was more than able to handle what he was giving her now and she snaked her arms down his back.

"Two fuckin' weeks...are you fuckin' kiddin' me?" He panted as he fucked her. He was lost in lust or he never would have admitted that he had gone that long. He had plently of ass to choose from at the chlubhouse but since hooking back up with Jaci the night of the salon fire, he had become disinterested with other women for the moment. SHE was the chase, the goal.

Jaci focused on moving her body in rhythm with his but managed to mumble, "Sorry." She saw him give the slightest of nods. "Sorry for making you wait..." He finally slowed his motion and started pulling out almost all the way and then sliding back inside at a deliberate measured pace, which he knew drove her crazy. She spread her legs wider, wanting him deeper inside. "Never... should have made...mmmmm...shouldn't make you wait." She breathed and gave up on talking, forming words was now in competition with getting off.

In his head, he called it the Long Stroke and fuckin' loved the way it let him feel her along every inch of him. As good as it was for him, it was all of that with a tinge of frustration for Jaci. The stroke felt amazing but what she was really after was the nudge against her clit that she got each time he pushed back inside her.

After a few moments of it, he knew Jaci was going to come. Her breathing picked up paced and she let out a series of little moans. He fought back a smile as she grabbed his ass with both her hands and moved his hips faster in the rhythm that she needed. Slow and controlled had got her there but fast and hard would push her over the top. He leaned closer to her as her moans turned to screams. "That's it...let me hear it. Fuckin' let me hear it." She obliged with a run of muttered cuss words and small screams. She didn't understand why but she always cussed when she came.

"Shit...hurry up...hurry up." He breathed. Her coming was about to pull him over the edge with her. "I don't wanna blow like this... FUCK...hurry up." She pushed her hips up against him hard and slow. He thought she was just riding out the aftershocks but after the third time he realized she was TRYING to make him come. He snorted a laugh without meaning to and muttered, "Oh fuck you" as he pulled out of her.

Jaci laughed and smiled up at him, knowing she was busted on her evil deed. She laid back flat on the bed, chest heaving as she caught her breath. Tig sat on his knees with a hand on her thigh and gave her a hard slap on the leg. "Devil."

"What?" Jaci asked, feigning innocence. "What's so bad about coming WITH me?"

"Nothing." Tig answered. "But I haven't fucked you from behind in goddamn ever. THAT'S how I'm going out tonight." He up-nodded at her. "Assume the position." She laughed quietly and crawled to the other end of the bed. She moved onto her knees facing the headboard without a word.

She looked back over her shoulder at him and smiled flirtatiously. "Is this better?"

"Mmmhmmm." He ran his hand down her back and gently pushed her head down and lifted her hips with his hands. He slid inside her from behind easily, she was still wet from their previous go. He let out a satisfied moan. "Goddamn, I've missed this."

The overwhelming sense of urgency subsided for a moment and Tig just moved slowly, enjoying the sensations. Then Jaci made the devious move of lifting her ass ever so slightly higher, a move that completely amped up the friction and usually undid him. He shook his head and smiled, if she wanted to get it going, he could get it going.

A few minutes later they were really going at it. Tig had one hand curled around her left hip and his right hand gripped the headboard, which pounded against the wall each time he slammed into her. He heard a banging noise above his head but didn't pay any attention, his eyes were half closed and he was completely focused on the task at hand. Jaci was just beginning to moan, she rarely came with him behind but he suddenly wondered if he could pull off a double for her that night. She started pushing back against him more than normal. He looked down at the back of her head, loving her sudden increased interest, the more movement the better. "Can you get it?"

"I don't know." She breathed. Pleasure was building and she gripped the sheets with her fists. "Keep going...oh shit...mmmmmm...harder...harder!"

He picked up his pace and moved his hand from her hip to her left shoulder for more leverage. The clanging noise above his head got louder. Clang, clang, clang! _What the fuck is that? _Annoyed, he glanced up... just in time to a large metal decorative scroll come flying off its nail and start to fall toward the bed...and Jaci's head. He had a split second to react and flung himself down on top of her. "SHIT!" He exclaimed and covered her head with his left arm before threw his right hand up to protect his own skull. The metal bar slammed onto his hand but thankfully his row of rings took the brunt of the impact. "Goddamnit!"

Jaci had no clue what had happened, she just knew that suddenly Tig had tackled her and now laid on top of her. Her face was buried in a pillow and she couldn't breath. She struggled beneath him and he finally eased his weight off her slightly but stayed mostly on top of her. "What the hell?"

Tig rested his weight on his left elbow and held the huge metal scroll in his right hand. He hefted the object in his hand, feeling the weight of it. He seemed a little stunned and tried to catch his breath. "Shit...has that always been up there?"

She looked behind her to see what he was holding and realized what had happened. "No...its new."

"Damn...you could have killed us." He mused and sort of laughed, completely distracted by the incident. "Man, that would crack a skull. Could you imagine the obituary if that fuckin' thing had killed me? Rough sex and metal thingy contributes to ..."

"Ornate decoration". Jaci suggested flatly as she sank her belly flat on the bed, both embarrassed and frustrated. She had been 60 seconds away from a possibly brilliant orgasm only to be interrupted by a fluke decorating choice.

Tig laughed, "Yeah, that's better..._ornate decoration _contributes to death of revered local mechanic and biker."

Jaci snorted and looked back at him, "Revered? I think that's pushing it a little. More like INFAMOUS local mechanic and biker."

"Oooh, INFAMOUS...I like the way you think." He replied with a smile and tossed the metal scroll to the floor with a thud. "Never once did I think I'd get a sexual injury with YOU... of all people." He brushed her hair off her back to kiss her neck and something else new caught his attention, her PARKER tattoo. He shifted his weight and curved his body against hers, tracing the tattoo with his finger. "When'd you get this? It's badass." Before he could stop his brain, he wondered how TRAGER would look tattooed on her somewhere. He shook his head and scolded himself. _Fuckin' idiot, shut up._

She realized what he was looking at. "Got it the night before you dumped me." Before he could respond she pushed her ass against him. "Um, we were sorta in the middle of something. Can we get back to that? Your talking is screwing things up."

"It's fuckin', how can you screw it up?" He was very thankful for her desire to get back to business and not start a serious conversation. He slapped her on the ass playfully. "Jesus, lighten up...relax. I'll make it worth your while. Promise ya that."

_**XXX**_

After they had both gotten off, they had cleaned up and then collasped back on the bed. He dozed off with Jaci in his arms but aburptly woke up after a few short minutes. He figured he didn't have long before people started piling into the house for the night; he needed to get going. He kissed her and then slid out of bed, grabbing his clothes off the floor. He pulled on his jeans and rolled his shoulders. "Goddamn, I'm tired."

"Being an asshole's hard work, huh?" Jaci asked playfully. She sat with her back against the headboard, the bedsheet pulled around her.

Tig smirked. "I'll show you hard..."

She laughed but then turned serious for a moment. She thought back over the night and concluded Tig did have a point. No one had said a word about Vix and Juice shacking up. It was stupid for her to be denying him time with her while the Bama guys were vistiting. Her only explaination was that she was used to keeping her relationship with Tig a secret, she had automatically began playing it down when company had arrived. "Hey...you don't have to go...if you don't want." She frowned slightly, a little nervous of his reaction to her next offer. "I mean...you could stay the night."

He smirked as he pulled his boots on. "You really want TNT hearing you scream OH GOD over and over? I guess we could play it off like you found Jesus or something."

"We could just SLEEP, you know."

"Yeah, I know." He replied but continued getting dressed, pulling his t-shirt over his head and smoothing it out. He did appreciate her asking him to stay, it meant something but he wasn't going to take her up on it, make her feel weird in the morning when her family was staring at him over breakfast. Motor punching him was enough. He wasn't going to take any more shit from anyone about her. He played off the invitation. "I can't stay though...by definition, you're not supposed to spend the night with a booty call."

She smiled, "Oh, well...yeah, we can't go screwing that up. You've got a reputation to protect after all." He grinned at her and they both knew they were on good footing with each other. She watched as he pulled on his cut and then dug his wallet out of his pocket. He weeded through it and threw several bills on her dresser.

"What's that?"

He shrugged. "Half your medical bills, I figured I'm at least HALF a pain in your ass."

She jumped out of bed and confronted him, wearing only her panties and bra. She grabbed the money and counted it, $500! She shoved the money at him. "Nononono. I'm not taking that."

"Yes you are." He shoved the money back toward her.

"No I'm NOT."

"You will or I'll tell your sister and the Bama boys about your little medical condition." He fired back bluntly. "Can you IMAGINE the shit fit they'd throw if they knew you were on meds?"

Jaci gave him an incredulous look. "That's the worst blackmail scheme ever."

"Not if it works." He replied with a shrug. "I'm playing nice, Jaci...take the goddamn money."

They stared at each other for a long while before she relented. "Fine." She sighed. "Could you have least dropped the money at a more appropriate time instead of after a booty call?"

"Best $500 I ever spent." He laughed as he walked out of her bedroom. "See ya tomorrow sometime."

She stood in the middle of her bedroom for a few minutes, stunned at the money in her hand. Finally, flipped off the light, walked over to her bed and put the money in the bedside cabinet. She crawled into bed and pulled the covers up, settling in for the night. She sighed and stared at the wall. _Wow._

_Oh oh, I want some more  
Oh oh, What are you waiting for?  
Take a bite of my heart tonight  
Oh oh, I want some more  
Oh oh, What are you waiting for?  
What are you waiting for?  
Say goodbye to my heart tonight_

_Hush, hush- the world is quiet  
Hush, hush- we both can't fight it  
It's us that made this mess  
Why can't you understand?  
Whoa, I won't sleep tonight  
_

~ Animal, Neon Trees


	18. Chapter 15 Southern Comfort

**Walk Away from the Son****  
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SoA  
****Chapter 15-Southern Comfort**

**By BG and Reaper**

___This chapter is pure fun and fluff. We thought we all deserved a little fun before the down hill serious slide of Season 2 starts. Enjoy and let's us know what you think!_

**X **_**You're on my Heart... Just Like a Tattoo... I'll Always Have You **_** X**

**Big Daddy's** the neon sign proclaimed as it pulsated and vibrated, blinking out a subliminal lure to the thirsty masses. Below the neon beacon, a long row of Harleys dominated one side of the parking lot. The bikes were serving as both a magnet to the curious and the rebellious and a warning sign to the cautious and the reluctant. The bikes were flanked by two large pick up trucks. One, a red Dodge Ram Supercharge, baring Cali plates and a large magnetic sign on the door advertising the honky tonk under some painted scripted lettering saying "Big Daddy".The other, a black Ford F150 with personalized Alabama tags. The rest of the parking lot was moderately full for a Saturday night.

Juice backed his bike into a spot saved for him in the line. "We are so late." Vix laughed as she climbed off the back of his bike. "We woulda been on time if you hadn't been so adamant about me gettin' mine. I was fine with just seein' you get yours."

She kissed his cheek "Where's the fun in that?"

As the door to the bar opened, the sound of voices and the unmistakable twang of country music spilled out into the night. Inside, the heavy thump of the jukebox and the smell of tobacco and hops filled the air. From off to their left a loud southern voice hollered, "Well lookey what the cat decided to drag in... FINALLY/"

Vix rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Hogan! You can't rush perfection."

Bobby up nodded. "Alright, let's see it."

Grinning, Vix shrugged off her thick, fleece-lined hoodie and laid it across the back of a chair near the group of SONS and began unbuttoning her thin flannel shirt revealing the tank top beneath.

"My god, she's in the place for a whole of two minutes and she's strippin'. I love California.. I swear they spike the tap water 'round here." Nolan snorted before planting a kiss on Vix's cheek and givin' a bro-hug to Juice.

"No one drinks tap water 'round here so that blows your theory to hell, Dumbass." Opie mumbled.

Slipping off her flannel, Vix turned...taking up a majority of her left shoulder blade was an inked pair of Juice-inspired BOLTS formed into the shape of a heart. Inside the heart was a CROW in flight.

Everyone was commenting and admiring, along with nods of approval. Chibs had roared, practically incomprehensibly. Vix glanced at Juice who shrugged, "I'm pretty sure he said it's about time... but don't hold me to that."

Happy walked over and let out that little two-beat laugh that always sent a chill down Vix's spine. He looked at the tat and nodded, "Good detail... shading...real sharp." Then he grinned what Vix affectionately refers to as his 'scary grin'. "Unlike... him." He shoved Juice and laughed, then hugged him and patted him on the back. "You got a good woman, Bro." He glanced at Vix, "If he don't keep you happy, come see me...I'll kick his ass."

Vix pouts dramatically. "Is that all?" then she flashed a huge grin. She saw TNT beckon from his seat and grabbed Juice, tugging him along with her to see The Old Man. Upon closer inspection, Travis nodded his approval of the new addition. She glanced over at Trace, seated next to him. The Bama VP nodded as well and then added "Do NOT think that I am passin' knowledge of this along to BB. I'm pretty sure, with regard to every damn detail of this trip, I want to join in on that Power of Amnesia thing that you two got goin' on."

"Ya know that comes with a certain responsibility." Clay said as he walked back to the table with a beer in his hand.

"People always think that being responsible is hard to bear. It's not, having no responsibility is much tougher- makes you feel unimportant." Vix retorted before taking a serious look at the SAMCRO President. "I'll take real good care of my man, Clay... I promise."

Clay nodded and in a shocking move, hugged and then kissed her on the top of her head in a very doting daddy like way. "I know you will." He then looked over at Juice and patted him on the back. Leaning down, he said quietly "Don't lose her this time."

"You got it." Juice said seriously.

Jax swaggered over to the crowd. "Hey, Hey Little Sister... don't you do what your big sister done."

Vix raised an eye brow."Jackson Teller, don't tell me White Lightening's hit the family tree already."

"Nah!" Jax replied and took a closer look at the Crow tattoo. "But you know that ain't the lick and stick kind, right?" He grinned and hugged her.

Opie eyed the work, "You go to that guy I told ya about?" Vix nodded. Op frowned. "Nice work but how the fuck did that take you five hours?"

"Juicey got one too."

Tig let out a loud laugh, "Please tell me Retard got a crow. I will laugh my ass off every time he takes it UP the ass at the club house."

Vix rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Tigger. He didn't get a crow. I branded him as MINE, well I wanted to actually GET branded but Juicey's too chickenshit."

"Well excuse me if having my flesh burnt off doesn't sound like THE most fun thing to do on a Saturday night." Juice tried to defend his reluctance.

"I know, baby... maybe some random Wednesday." Vix laughed and kissed his cheek. "Come on, show 'em."

Juice shrugged out of his cut and handed it to Vix and then peeled off his layered t-shirt and thermal. Standing shirtless in the middle of the bar, he raised his left arm and showed off his newest ink acquisition, _**VIXSIN**_ tattooed in script lettering on the inside of his bicep. Hanging off the outside of the V was a halo and at the other end a devil's tail snaked off the outside of the N.

From behind them they hear, Big Daddy holler playfully, "Hey Ortiz... read the sign! NO SHIRT... NO SHOES.. NO SERVICE! Put your clothes back on, son."

Vix laughed and spotted her sister who was standing at the back of the crowd, next to Tara. She knew the look etched on Jaci's face, it was her patented '_what the hell were you thinking' _face. Vix was VERY familiar with it. She moved through the crowd to her older sister "Why do I feel like I'm gonna get a lecture and not a congratulations?"

"Vix, tattoos are FOREVER and less than a month ago you and Juice couldn't stand each other. But now you're suddenly 100% SOLID enough to ink your names and undying allegiance to each other? Excuse me if I'm a little shocked." Inwardly, Jaci sighed. She had learned the hard way about tats. Even when you had YEARS with someone, the bottom could still fall out. She knew the crow tattoos where a right of passage for SAMCRO women but she just wished that Vix had given the inevitable some more time. "I guess I echo Happy, they're really good quality... I just hope you don't regret them later."

"Two words for ya, J...buzz kill."

"I think that's actually ONE word."

Vix had a_ Fuck You! _on the tip of her tongue but stopped herself and stared at her sister. "Ya know, I'm gonna lean hard on the grace of Southern Charm here. We both know I've got a mouth like a sailor and yours is more like a hallmark card so let's not go there."

"Are you gonna pick a fight?" Jaci asked and held up her hands. "Cause if that's the case, I'm gonna call it a night right now. I'm not starting shit with YOU... HERE.. over THAT."

"BLESS YOUR HEART!" Vix seethed.

Jaci sighed, "Look, you've got your opinion just like I've got mine. This night is supposed to be fun and relaxing. The 'Bama boys are gonna be rollin' out in a couple of days, the salon is practically ready for reopening as soon as it passes the code inspection, again!"

"So what...you wanna just agree to just disagree on the matter of the tats?"

"Yes... them and a lot of things." Jaci conceded. "We're night and day on some things... but we've got a lot more in common then we care to admit."

Vix smiled. "So what you're sayin' is...in some ways.. .I'm just like you... only prettier?"

"Brat!" Jaci laughed as she recognized the song lyrics Vix had been speaking in. She reached and grabbed Vix in a hug and said into her baby sister's ear. "I hope with all my heart that Juice is worthy of you wearin' his crow...NOT the other way around."

"I can agree with that logic." Vix replied as she hugged her sister back. Then grinned devilishly. "But I AM prettier that you."

**X **_**Give A Toast to the SONS ... Get Thrown in the Mix & Tossed Outta Bars**_** X**

After the excitement surrounding the tattoos had died down, Vix made sure everyone had a drink in their hand. "Alright you guys, raise your glasses. A toast to our 'Bama boys for trekking across the country to lend a hand and save the day. We know it was hard putting up with Hogan for that long in a confined space and we're sorry! But we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. The salon is beautiful and now I can get back to making some money!"

"Amen." Jaci mumbled and took a sip of the beer in her hand while smiling at her sister, everyone laughed. The cold brew tasted wonder. After she had begged for ONE night of fun, arguing that ONE night wouldn't kill her, Tara had given her professional clearance...but only for the ONE night. Vix pointed at her sister, signaling her to say a little something as well. Jaci looked at the small crowd of people gathered around and bit her lip, searching for the right words. She was a bit more serious with her toast. "They say when the shit hits the fan you find out who your friends are...who loves you, who has your back. Everyone standing here has bent over backwards for us...some more than a few times and we'll never forget that. So thank you." A round of cheers was sounded and everyone clicked glasses and bottles.

Vix looked around, "Anyone else got anything to say?" She glanced at TNT. "Travis? You're always good for a toast..."

The older man shrugged and held up his bottle. "I guess...here's a favorite of mine. I ain't lived forever but I've lived enough, I've learned to be gentle andI've learned to be tough.I found only two things that last til the is your heroes,the other's your friends."

"Here, here!" Chibs agreed. "My turn!"

"No limericks, Teleford!" Clay warned playfully. Chibs rattled off an Irish pub favorite and the toast finally ended.

Bobby held up his finger, "And let's try to keep everyone outta jail...unlike LAST time we were all at a bar together."

"Oh there ya go, Elvis ... suckin' the fun outta everything." Nolan teased.

Bobby ignored him and pointed in the direction of Vix's older sister. "I'm looking at you, J."

Trace frowned at Jaci, "When'd you ever get arrested?"

She smiled as she walked off, "St Patricks Day." Tig just grinned and followed her.

**X**_** It's Left & Right, c'mon you fuckin' dummy get your right step right**_** X**

For the last two songs, Vix had been trying her damnedest to teach the Prospect to two step. So far, all she had gained from the experience was sore feet. "Damnit, Sack! Stay off my boots!" She snapped while laughing. "My feet can't take this shit."

"Sorry." Half Sack apologized for the millionth time in three minutes. He just was NOT catching on.

Bodie laughed his ass off while watching the kid struggle and Vix trying to anticipate his wrong moves and get out of the way. Finally the Bama Son couldn't resist any longer. He strolled to the dance floor and tapped Vix on the shoulder. "May I cut in, ma'am?" Vix frowned but stepped aside, leaving Half Sack and Bodie face to face on the dance floor.

"Look here, I'm secure in my manhood enough that I can teach ya to dance, a'ight?" Bodie reached out and pulled the Prospect into a secure dance hold, chests a few inches apart, hands entwined. "BUT...if you get lost in the moment and my good looks and grab my ass, I'm gonna knock the shit outta ya."

"Oh man, come on." Half Sack groaned and tried to pull away. He was humiliated enough, the last thing he needed were more gay jokes from the guys.

"No, you come on. This here's important shit." Bodie explained as he tightened his grip on the Prospect. "A man's gotta know how to dance. You know how much ass you can snag from the dance floor?" He grinned, "Trust me...it's a fuckin' lot!"

And with that, the men started their loop around the dance floor. By the end of the song, Bodie had given up, deeming his student un-teachable. As they walked back to the table, he shook his head. "Sweet lordie, Prospect... are you the worst dancer in the world or what?"

Fueled by too much alcohol and frustration, Half Sack replied, "Fuck you, man."

Bodie feigned being upset. "Oh come on. I didn't mean it so much as an insult, more like an observation."

Half Sack let out an exaggerated laugh. "Oh well... in that case... fuck you!"

"Just ignore him Kippy, you did fine." Vix announced from the sidelines. "Not like anyone was watching."

That statement drew laughs from the group of Sons. Chibs raised his bottle of beer and grinned. "Oh we ALL were watching. You wanna know what you looked like?"

"Like this!" Nolan yelled and sat his fresh mug of beer on the nearby table and launched into a crazed, yet very accurate mimic of Half-Sack's dancing style. He grabbed Vix's hand and spun her around and proceeded to fake stomp on her feet in an exaggerated manner.

Jaci noted the mortified look on Kipp's face, the kid was miserable and embarrassed as everyone laughed at him. She slid out of her chair next to Tig and went to put a stop to the mocking. She pulled him off to the side, AWAY from the group. "Here...have a seat and chill out." She sat him down in a chair that sidelined the dance floor, their backs to their rowdy group. "You really wanna learn to dance, I can teach you. I've got more patience than those two."

"Screw that, I'm done." Kipp announced with a shake of his head.

She ignored his negative answer. "Granted, I can't teach ya like I learned. Daddy used to let me stand on his feet, we'd dance around the living room." She paused and hung onto the memory for a moment. "Damn, I was only like five back then...back when things were still good in our little family."

Kipp kept his arms crossed over his chest but looked over at his friend. He did WANT to learn to dance, just thought maybe he should have done it in private, yeah a few thousand private lessons and he might have gotten the hang of it. But if he trusted any one to teach him, it'd be Jaci. "So...what would you do different...with me?"

Jaci pointed to their feet. "You gotta crawl before you can walk right? I want you to listen to the song, you move on the beat. LISTEN and then watch my feet." While still sitting down, she showed him the proper foot movements...left-right-left-left-right, left-right-right-left. "You have to LISTEN and FEEL when to move. Don't think about it, just DO it." She then nodded to a few couples twirling around the dance floor and pointed some stuff out to Kipp, who nodded along, finally understanding what the hell he was supposed to have been doing.

The current song came to an end and she looked at him, smiling slightly. "Wanna try again?"

He shook his head furiously, "Hell no! I'm already the laughing stock of the whole damn bar, J."

She stood up and took his hand as the next song started, As they stepped on the dance floor and the crew started whooping and hollering and taunting. Jaci pointed a finger at them, "SHUT IT!"

Mock scared replies were shouted, peanuts were thrown but eventually everyone shut up and watched the show. It was a shaky start but then Kipp actually started to get the hang of it and by the end of the song, he was grinning like a fool.

**X **_** Pour Me, Pour Me, Pour Me, Pour Me. Another shot of...**_** X**

A small crew had assembled outside in the alley that ran behind the bar. They were having a blast inside but did have a few extracurricular activities of the illegal variety to partake in and they didn't want to run the risk of getting Big Daddy's liquor license pulled. Motor pulled out a joint and fired it up, taking the first pull. He passed it to his left where it was then passed around the small circle with everyone taking a hit except for Jaci.

Trace unscrewed the lid off the large Mason jar that held the moonshine they had brought up from Bama. He took a small drink and passed the jar to his right. He smiled and kicked at Jaci's foot with his boot. "Never will forget the first time we got Jaci drinking this stuff. So damn full of questions...what's it made of, why do you put it in jars, am I going to go blind?" He asked in a mocking voice. "And then my absolute favorite...how do I drink it?"

The group all laughed at J's overly cautious nature but she defended herself as she took a sip from the jar. "Hey! That's a valid question. Some things you sip, others you slug...I didn't want to do it wrong and end up in a coma or something." More laughs come from the crew and she handed the jar to Tig, who took a sniff of the contents before drinking. She smiled and shook her head as she watched him drink, knowing he'd never had shine before. "I can't believe I'm popping YOUR cherry on something."

"Enjoy it...it won't happened very often." Tig smirked. "That's about the ONLY thing you have on me." He handed the jar to Vix who took her quick sip and handed it to Juice.

Juice stared with a frown at the jar. "I can't believe I'm about to drink something that was probably made in a ditch on the side of the road using some old junk iron bathtub."

"Don't be insultin', Son." Trace snorted. "TNT brewed this batch up on his mountain...got some very high class stills. He ain't using car radiators or nothin'. This ain't rotgut...this here's the good shit." He pulled his lighter out of his pocket. "See, look here...blue flame you're drinkin' primo hooch, yellow flame is the methanol shit and will kill ya." He poured a bit of the liquid in the jar lid and lit it, a blue flame ignited. "See? Primo...down the hatch, boy."

Juice shrugged and took a huge gulp. All the experienced shine drinkers freaked out and started laughing, telling him nonono! He was supposed to SIP IT. Juice just gave an embarrassed smile, "Sorry." He blew out a small breath. "Damn that shit burns." He could feel the liquor burning a trial of fire down inside his chest and into the pit of his stomach...it was a very good burn.

Vix snagged the jar and took another sip. The crew started making cracks about who was supposed to designated driver...it seemed they had forgotten to do that and now everyone was well on their way to getting shit faced. Vix huffed. "I'm not taking a cab home, I hate cabs." She shook her head. "Nope, I say we all nab rooms at The Sandman across the street. Big Daddy's lady friend owns it, she'll hook me up."

"You're 26, Vix...not 5...it'll be ok." Jaci retorted with an eye roll.

Juice frowned. "Why? What happened when she was five?"

"Wendy sold me to a cab driver." Vix fumed.

Jax snorted a laugh while trying to take a hit from the joint in his hand. "Excuse me?"

Jaci explained. "Wendy was tryin' to get down to this outdoor concert, Bama Jam, but she didn't have money for the cab. Sooo she sold Vix into child slave labor to the cabbie in exchange for the ride for her and her friends."

Bobby shook his head. "That's fucked up."

"Nooo, what's is fucked up is that NO ONE realized I was missing for about 2 days." Vix pointed out.

"In my defense, I was with Aunt Jules in Atlanta." Jaci retorted. "I was the first one to ask where you were when I got back. Daddy and the Boys were on a run and Mama was on a bender."

Juice looked mortified, "What happened to you for those two days?"

Vix rolled her eyes. "Rode around in that cab with this satanic lookin' cabbie. Stared at his collection of skulls and gargoyles he had velcro'd to the dashboard. He fed me stale pistachios and Jolt cola and those tiny powdered donuts. The whole time I kept thinking I was gonna get my picture on a milk carton cause I couldn't remember my phone number."

"She's dyslexic" Jaci added as a side note for the people that didn't already know it.

Chibs snorted. "Ok, now I need to know... how did the little lost sheep find her way home?"

"Roxy and my Mama..." Motor began.

"Aunt Jules." Jaci clarify.

"Yep." Motor nodded. "They dragged the truth outta Wendy."

"Then JJ, BB, TNT and me went and paid the cab company a visit." Trace continued. "We tracked down the rogue cabbie and took back what was ours."

Tig laughed. "That story is too fucked up NOT to be true."

"Oh it's completely true." Vix exclaimed. "Daddy threatened to tattoo a 'If Found Please Return To' label on my ass. Jaci reasoned with him though...we moved around a lot, our address was constantly changin'. I deserve MAD PROPS for just surviving my childhood... Christ!"

The crew finished off the joint and screwed the lid back on the shine, setting it on a crate for later use. Everyone headed back inside, but Tig tugged on Jaci's hand and motioned for her to lag behind. He waited till the last person had disappeared back inside the bar and then quickly pushed Jaci against the building and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered in his ear as he kissed her neck. "What's this?"

"Just stealing a minute." He muttered.

She smiled as his hands roamed and his lips found hers again. After a moment, he stared at her and rested his hands on her hips. The music from inside the bar was pounding and a muffled version of it could be heard in the alley. She gave him a lustful look and started swaying on her feet slightly. "You know...if the theory is right and being good on dancefloor translates to being good in bed, you should be a VERY good dancer. Why don't you take a spin out there with me once?"

Tiglet her sway him back and forth. He shuffled his feet and they moved in the SLGHTEST bit of a slow motion circle. Their eyes were locked on each other intensely and he had to admit that having his body pressed up against hers was more than nice. They made another circle and he smirked, stopping abruptly. "I'd rather chew my arm off." He pulled away from her but kept hold of her hand and started for the back door of the bar. "Come on back inside. The fresh air's making you crazy."

**X **_**Raise Up Your Hands, If Y'all Wanna Hang... With Me & My Gang**_** X**

The large Reaper Crew had garnered a lot of attention in the hour and a half they had been in the bar. There were a few college girls there and once they saw the influx of hot bad boys, their phones were on fire with texting and calling their friends. Big Daddy's was suddenly becoming THE place to be. Soon a large crowd of college kids and twenty somethings were streaming into the bar. Jaci and Vix were at the bar waiting on Rachel to get them another round of drinks. One of the college girls tapped Jaci on the shoulder. "Hey...you two are with those bikers, right?" Jaci nodded.

"Any of them single?" The girl's friend asked.

Vix and Jaci smiled at each other. They had noticed the guys getting a lot of looks from the various girls in the bar. Now it was time to let these little party girls have a walk on the wild side. Vix plastered a big grin on her face. "Sure! Here, we'll point em out to ya." Her and her sister put their backs to the bar and turned to face the room. "The blonde is taken, that's his girlfriend sitting next to him, but the three guys at the table with him aren't. That's Opie, Chibs and Half Sack...don't ask bout nicknames. The table next to 'em is full of single guys too...that's Bobby, Trace and Travis."

Jaci pointed to the dance floor. "Those two idiots tearing up the dance floor are Nolan and Bodie... VERY single."

"The Mohawk cutey sitting there is off limits...don't make me enforce that." Vix said with a smile. The two inquiring girls nodded their heads in understanding.

Jaci jerked a thumb to another table. "Last table...the bald headed one is free as is the guy with the long hair and beard sitting next to him. That's our cousin, Motor...very sweet guy." The college girls nodded but didn't seem to believe in Motor's sweetness. They found him to be more than a little scary looking.

"What about the other one?" One girl asked. "He's sorta hot."

Jaci saw that she was pointing to Tig and smirked. "He's mine."

"Oh." The blonde college girl said with just the slightest twinge of disappointment.

The Parkers finally got their drinks and wished the girls a fun night. As they headed back to the crew tables, Vix grinned and announced, "We've successfully pimped out the crew! You boys should be getting laid tonight, thanks to us so for the rest of the night...drinks are on ya'll!"

Tig watched as Jaci walked to their table. She was feeling good, all the dancing and drinking had her completely relaxed. And apparently she was hot because the plaid cowboy style shirt she had been wearing was gone, now she was only clad in a black tank top. He had no complaints, her boobs looked good in it. He was leaned back in his chair as she walked in front of him. "Pimped us out huh, which one am I getting?"

Jaci frowned and slugged him in the chest playfully. She then surprised the hell out of his by straddling his lap. She whispered in his ear, "You've got ME...don't need anybody else." She leaned in and laid a very aggressive kiss on him. Normally he was against PDA but found the moment to be extremely hot. Someone lets out a wolf whistle while Trace and TNT just glanced at each other and shook their heads.

Later Vix brought over two very hot twenty-somethings that wanted to meet TNT. He grinned up at Vix from his seat, "You tryin' to kill me off, darlin'?" Vix smiled and headed back to Juice's side. TNT took a look at the girls and shook his head. "Girls, I ain't as good as I once was. I got a few years on me now. But there was a time, back in my prime when I could really lay it down."

Jaci rolled her eyes as she watched the goings on at the next table. "He totally just ripped off that Toby Keith song and they didn't even notice."

"Don't think country music ever graces their radio dial, J." Motor pointed out.

As the night continued, Motor and Tig sat glued to a table, talking to the other SAMCRO guys. Jaci hopped from table to table, to the bar, to the dance floor. Motor watched his cousin and laughed, "J's a busy bee. I do believe you've been abandoned."

Tig shrugged and smiled slightly. "I don't give a shit." He finished the rest of that sentence in his head, _as long as she's happy. _He knew Jaci had been stressed to the hilt for a long time, a night like this one was exactly what she needed. He took a pull from his beer and continued his chat with Motor, the current topic was a bike that Motor was thinking about buying and fixing up.

**X**_** The Company I'm Keeping.. Well, It May Be Bad**_** X**

The night was quickly becoming the best night of business for Big Daddy's bar in a LONG time. The Parkers and their crew would have been a welcomed sight by themselves but then when the college crowd showed up along with some other, the place turned chaotic. The dance floor was packed and so was nearly every table in the bar. Rachel and Big Daddy were getting overwhelmed behind the bar so Vix volunteered to help. She had just finished topping off Last Call's Gin and Tonic, when a girl approached her.

"Hi."

"Hey yourself." Vix replied with a smile. "What can I get for ya?"

"You're friends with all of them." She motioned towards where the Sons were sitting.

"I know 'em, why?" Vix studied the girl; cute, brunette, five-foot nothin', tiny little thing... bit of a Southern draw that was on its way to fading. It made Vix wonder where the girl was originally from, definitely not Alabama... to any non-Southerner the accents sounded all the same but that was complete bullshit. If Vix had to guess, she'd say Georgia, maybe Mississippi.

"Um, I've noticed the um, one in the white t-shirt, staring at me very intently for quite a while and..."

"Oh, Happy!" Vix nodded, noticing the Son's gaze had followed the girl even as she stood talking to her. "Is it freaking you out? He sometimes has that effect on people."

"No I'm fine... um, wait.. did you call him Happy?" The girl gave an amused smile, pretty smile. "That's funny... I don't think the guy has even smiled once the whole night."

"Exactly, so now you see what passed for humor with these guys. So how can I help ya with Happy? Want me to tell him to knock off the staring?"

"No... I was wondering how I could get his attention?"

Vix wanted to tell the girl to just go up and talk to him and with any other SON she probably would have but this was Hap they were talkin' about. "Wait here." She instructed and then walked over to where Hap was sitting. She returned a few minutes later. "He'd love to meet you."

"Seriously? Just like that? Holy shit!"

"Well, no.. not just like that. He said and I quote 'I've been staring at her ass for the last two hours, I might as well know her name.'" 

"It's Lauren."

"What is?"

"My name, it's Lauren."

Vix nodded "Nice to meet you Lauren... go on now, Happy's waiting.."

**X **_**Put On Your Shit-Kickers and Kick Some Shit!**_** X**

A loud bell clanged and everyone's attention focused on the bar. Rachel cupped her hands around her mouth and hollered, "The Witching Hour is upon us and for all the newbies in the house tonight that means for the next 60-minutes, plus or minus, we'll serve up a $2 Drink of the Night. My girl Vix, in honor of her entourage, has declared tonight's specialty..." Rach glanced over at her partner in crime, once again helping behind the bar. Vix cupped her mouth in similar fashion and they both hollered: "THE BITCH ON WHEELS!"

Seated at his place of honor, Last Call Larry inquired of Vix, "Ah, exactly what's in that?"

Vix glanced at him "Gin, Dry Vermouth, Crème de Menthe and Pernod."

Last Call raised an eyebrow. "Sounds practically pornographic."

Vix sat a glass on the top of the bar and concocted the drink with skilled perfection., then slapped a napkin and the glass down in front of her favorite bar fly. "This one's on me... 'bout time you cheated on Ginger & Tawni." She winked, making playful reference to his favorite drink Gin and Tonic..

Larry grinned. "Ooooh, they will be none too happy with you... none too happy!" Lifting the glass he smiled. "Cheers!"

Vix laughed and walked away to wait on another.

Across the barroom, TNT and Happy sat side by side at a table. TNT saw Happy's watchful eye trained on the girl he'd been talking to for the last half hour, now over at the jukebox picking songs. TNT eyed stared back at the bar and the huge glass pickle jar that served as the tip jar for Rachel, Vix and the house. It was very full and he noticed it was drawing the attention of a few others as well. He glanced Hap. "How you feel 'bout headin' off trouble?"

Hap shrugged. "Normally I chase it but wouldn't mind having a head start. Why?"

TNT nodded towards the far corner of the bar where three dipshits were converged and conspiring. "Been keepin' a close eye on the frat boys over in the corner. I reckon their fixin' on helpin' themselves to the tip jug."

"Two'll cause a distraction, while the third makes a break for it." Hap predicted.

"Yep." The old man agreed.

Hap nodded, stood up and started towards the main exit. He had just stepped outside the door, when just as predicted two of the frat boys started a shoving match. One of them knocked the other one into the nearest table of patrons, which drew everyone's attention. A few of the Sons stood up, assessing the fight. While everyone's eyes were on the scuffle, the third frat boy, also as predicted, quickly made his way behind the bar.

Last Call saw the guy grab the tip jar and hollered, "HEY!" The the noise level was too high due to the distraction. Larry frowned and hollered at Vix, who was behind the bar.

She turned from the beer taps in time to see the dude snatch up the tip jug. "Motherfucker!" She yelled and slammed off the steam of beer to chase after the guy as he ran past her, out the other side of the bar and made for the exit.

The thief got less than one toe outside when he started backing up, back into the bar. He had been met by Happy and had instantly rethought his direction of choice. He backed up right into Vix. She wasn't expecting it and the impact knocked her on her ass. The thief tripped over her and stumbled. He let go of the tip jug as his arms flailed in an attempt to keep himself upright. Vix caught the jar before it hit the ground but got practically trampled by the back peddling. Hap grabbed a fist full of the guy's rugby shirt and steadied him on his feet. While still holding the dude, he asked Vix, "You alright?"

"Yeah." Vix spat as she got to her feet, her face red with anger.

She was about to go off on the thief but was interrupted when Nolan suddenly grabbed the kid and shoved him towards the door. "Oh its on now, motherfucker!" The Bama Son yelled and people, Sons and patrons alike, started pouring outside to watch the fight.

Rugby Shirted Guy had been giving Nolan shit all night as the Bama Son tried striking up a conversation with a girl at the bar. The guy had ran his mouth about Nolan's height, his bull riding championship belt buckle, damn near everything but Nolan had held his temper and tried to ignore the douche bag. After all, he was there to dance and drink and have a good time and tried to mind his manners. But now the jackass had tried stealing from the bar and Nolan didn't have to hold back anymore.

In the parking lot, Nolan shoved the guy a few times before the idiot finally threw a punch. Nolan ducked it easily and unleashed on the guy. A crowd gathered and formed a circle around the fighting men. The Reaper Crew shouted encouragement for Nolan while Bodie kept his eyes locked on the guy's two friends who were watching the fight with frowns. He silently wished for them to be stupid and jump in the fight. There was nothing the Texan liked better than fighting while drunk; the alcohol made him feel ten foot tall and bullet proof.

Nolan toyed with his opponent, popping the guy at will with jabs and then slamming right hooks into his ribcage. The guy finally gave up trying to box with the Son and rushed him. They hit the pavement hard and rolled around, struggling for control.

Everyone was hollering and cheering. Tig stood just behind Jaci, who leaned back to muse, "You know who I wish was here? That little skank you messed around with the last time we were here. I would mop the floor with that bitch now."

"Oh really?" Tig just smirked, knowing Jaci was riding a good drunk at the moment.

Jaci nodded, "Yeah...I was being nice last time...but my self control is pretty shoddy tonight!"

Tig smiled, "If you getting in a fight ends the same way it did on St Paddy's Day, minus the jail stay...I'll FIND you someone to fight." He leaned in and said into her ear, "Or we could just skip the fightin' and get to the fuckin'." She smiled in returned and enjoyed the weight of his hand on her shoulder.

Nolan was a stout fucker and soon sat on top of the guy, punching him in the face at will. That was when one of his friends decided to try and help. He came running towards Nolan's back but was suddenly knocked sideways by Bodie's tackle. A few minutes later, both college guys laid on the pavement groaning while Bodie and Nolan were clapped on the back by the crowd.

"Ok, show's over! Back inside!" Trace yelled and the crowed followed his lead to the bar.

The girl Nolan had been talking to earlier in the night, came to his side, offering to help clean him up. Another girl walked up to Bodie and asked if he was alright.

Bodie instantly wiped the grin off his face and frowned. "My side hurts a little." The girl fawned on him and pushed his shirt up as they walked. Bodie let out a pathetic hurtful noise. "Oh! Oh that hurts! Oh wait... I think it's a little lower."

Opie walked behind the Bama Son and coughed into his hand. "Faker... cough...faker."

"Shut up, man." Bodie hissed as he twisted around to warn Op. Opie rolled his eyes and Bodie grinned and winked before suggesting to the girl that it might be best if they went to the bathroom, to view his injuries in better lighting.

Happy walked back inside and Rachel and Vix hugged him and both kissed him on the cheek, thanking him for heading off the thief. Last Call Larry frowned as he watched the exchange. "Hey! Where's my kiss? I yelled at the guy!"

**X **_**… You're The Designated Drunk ...**_**X**

Motor exited the men's restroom and headed down the hall back toward the main bar. He didn't make it but three steps before his path was cut off by two girls stumbling out of the women's room. He watched with amusement as the girls slammed into the hallway wall and one of the girls fell to the floor then started laughing. Looked like some girls should have paced themselves on the drinkin'.

"Seriously? This isn't funny...stand up!" The one girl shouted to her friend that was sprawled out on the floor. "GOD! This is the LAST damn time I'm going out with you all. Screw this designated driver shit!" The girl put her hands on her hips and kicked at her drunken friend. "Get up!"

Motor smiled slightly as he recognized an all too familiar situation...being the sober one having to wrangle drunken idiot friends. He couldn't count the number of times he had been the one to corral Bodie or one of the other guys at the clubhouse or while out on a run. It took a lot to get Motor drunk and most times he didn't care to get shitfaced anyway so most nights he was the responsible one in the crew by default. He felt a slight pang of sympathy as the girl now tried to pull her drunk friend to her feet. He walked over and stood behind the pair. "Need some help, ma'am?"

The girl turned around quickly, a little startled to hear the low rumble of a question behind her. Her eyes widened as they fell on the long haired, bearded, stout looking biker. Perhaps stout didn't cover the description well enough..._scary _might be a better word. She froze, half bent over, with one arm around her friend's waist. "Um...I...we're ok."

"Yeah, you look it." Motor replied as he watched the girl try to stay upright with the dead weight of her zonked friend pulling her down. He shook his head and didn't wait for permission. He bent and snaked an arm around the drunk girl and pulled her effortlessly to her feet then started walking her, half carrying her down the hall. "Where you want her?" He called over his shoulder to the girl that trailed behind.

"Uh...by the pool tables... I guess?"

Motor spotted an empty stool by the pool tables and headed that direction. He stopped long enough to push the stool against the wall with his boot and move the drunk girl in front of him, like they were hugging. He lifted her up and sat her on the stool then pushed her backwards until she leaned all the way against the wall. The girl stared at him with half lidded eyes and tried to reach out for him. He batted her hand away and pointed a finger at her. "SIT...STAY. Uner'stand?" The drunk girl managed a thumbs up. "Good girl."

The sober friend managed a snort of laughter at the sight of the biker commanding her friend like a dog but it seemed to work. She looked over the back of his cut, noticing it said Alabama and wondered what he was doing all the way across the country. Her attention snapped back to the moment when the biker turned and looked at her.

"Well, there ya go."

"Thank you." The girl said shyly. "I don't know why I keep letting myself get suckered into going out with these girls. I always end up being the one to haul their drunk asses home when they get too wild."

Motor nodded. "I know how that goes."

"We actually came with another girl but I've LOST her. One minute she was out on the dance floor and now I don't know. Long blonde hair, skinny? Have you seen her?"

"She wearing a purple shirt?" Motor asked and the girl nodded. He winced as he remembered seeing a girl that fit that description dancing and talking with Bodie and then babyin' his wounds after the fist fight. "I think she mighta hooked up with a buddy of mine."

"Is that a bad thing?"

Motor shrugged. "I'm sure she's enjoyin' herself."

The girl sighed. "Great...I guess I'll just wait until she wanders back around."

She glanced around the bar nervously. Motor watched her and then looked to where his friends were; most had given up on dancing and now sat at various tables but they were all drunk and getting loud as they laughed and shot the shit with each other. He couldn't ask the girl to sit with them, she'd probably be terrified. She looked to be the wallflower type...but he could appreciate that. He was never the center of attention on a night out. He usually sat a table and quietly drank his beer, even at the clubhouse he usually went home alone. He wasn't full of charm and bullshit like the other guys so he was hard for him to connect with a girl other than a Bama Lamb, who'd show him a good time for the night and then leave. The girl before seemed like a nice girl and hell he was beginning to feel like a third wheel at the table with Tig and Jaci .

He scratched his cheek with his thumb and frowned. "You wanna play a round while she's sleepin' it off?" The girl looked over at him and raised her eyebrows. He pointed to the pool table and shrugged.

She hesitated for a moment as she considered the invitation. The pool tables were away from the main action of the bar and would be a good place to hang out until her other wayward friend showed her face again. The biker really didn't look all that scary now that she took a moment to really look him over...he might have been built like a bull and was surely menacing when violent...but his eyes were kind. He was actually younger than she had first thought. She mentally chided herself to chill out and just relax. She nodded. "Ok...yeah. We can play a game or two."

Motor dug some quarters out of his pocket and set to racking the balls and she picked out a cue. As he stood arranging the balls she chalked her stick and tied to think of something to say, "Did you call me ma'am earlier? I think I'm probably younger than you."

"Sorry...habit." He replied. "Got something else you'd rather be called?"

"Hope...my name's Hope." She said and then frowned, listening to his Southern drawl. "Please tell me your name isn't BO."

Motor actually chuckled ever so slightly, making the immediate connection...Bo and Hope...Days of Our Lives. "Nah, it ain't...and fore you ask, I only know bout that soap opera cause I used to tape it for my mama."

"Suuuuure." Hope replied, teasing him before she had a second to think about it. He motioned to the table, asking her to break but she shook her head. "Um...if we want to actually keep the balls on the table, you should probably break. But before you do that, what's your name?"

"Motor." He answered then saw the odd look on her face and explained. "Its a nickname...short for Motormouth."

"Because you talk SOOOO much?" She asked with a laugh.

He nodded. "Its one of them oxymoron sorta things but its fine by me." He obliged by breaking and thus their game of pool began.

They'd played two games before he walked to the bar to get them a beer. As he walked back to the pool tables, he mused to himself how odd it was that he had to go all the way to the West Coast to find a girl he could actually stand. His breakup with an ex over a year ago had been nasty and heartbreaking, she had cheated on him and therefore had given him something in common with Jaci, who was going through her breakup with Dean at the same time. Since then he hadn't paid women much attention other than a quick wham bam thank you ma'am at eh clubhouse every now and then. But he found himself liking Hope...she was quiet like him but joked around too, seemed nice.

**X **_**Meet Me in The Parking Lot... Better Bring Your Friend Along...**_** X**

They ended up playing four leisurely games before the drunk girl woke up. After a few glasses of water, she was able to stand up...sort of. Hope finally called her other friend's cell phone and the friend assured her she was fine and would find her own way home. Hope looked to Motor, "Well, I guess its time for me to call it a night."

He nodded and offered to walk her and her friend outside. Well, he walked Hope outside, half way across the bar, he ended up just draping the other girl across his right shoulder and carrying her out. Out in the parking lot, they walked to Hope's car and she unlocked it, pulling open the passenger side door. Motor lowered the friend into the seat and they buckled her in. She was back to being passed smooth out.

"I hope she sleeps the whole way home. I really don't want to clean up the car if she hurls." Hope said quietly. Motor shut the door and they walked around to the driver's side. She leaned her back against the car. "So...you're heading home in a few days?" He nodded. "Do you get out to California much?"

Motor shook his head. "Every once in a while...pretty rare." They stood in silence for a moment or two. He kicked at the pavement with his boot before finally saying, "Um...it was nice meetin' ya."

"Yeah, you too." Hope replied with a smile. "Thanks for everything...I hope I didn't mess your night up too much."

"No skin off my hide." He blurted then corrected himself. "I mean...no problem."

Hope stared at the quiet biker before her. The rational part of her said to shake his hand, say goodnight and get on with the drive home. The irrational part remind her that her ungrateful drunk friend was probably going to puke in her car or worse yet on her couch after she lugged her inside her house for the night, it reminded her that she NEVER had any fun, she was always the MOM of her friends, they were the ones having the nights to remember. She bit her lip. "Well...goodnight." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. When she had leaned into him, Motor had put his hand on her hip instinctively and it remained there as she pulled away slightly from him. She stared at him again and her brain screamed GO FOR IT! She took a breath and then slammed her lips against his.

The kiss surprised the hell out of him but a moment later he recovered and kissed her back proper. She took a hold of his cut with both hands and kept him close to her as they continued kissing. She pulled away again, this time breathless. "Shit! I'm sorry! I don't...I've never..."

"It's ok." Motor breathed. "Didn't offend me or nothing." He realized that as they were kissing, he had pushed her up against her car and had one arm wrapped around her waist, the other one gripping the car. He started to back away from her but she stopped him by kissing him again. Her hands left his cut and snaked around his neck. Apparently she wasn't done with him just yet. The impromptu make out session had him getting hard and he dreaded the blue ball pain that would come when Hope finally came to her senses.

His beard scratched her face, a very odd feeling but she didn't mind because she was too busy enjoying the way his muscular arm felt clamped around her waist. Again, half her brain screamed for her stop what she was doing and THINK but it was being drown out by the huge wave of adrenaline that was coursing through her veins. She didn't think she'd ever been so excited in her life and she wanted MORE. She kissed him with more intensity and felt him press into her...he was pretty damn excited too. She moaned slightly and she began to scramble on what to do next. This had to be the craziest thing she'd ever done...but damnit she wanted him. She started to un-tuck his t-shirt then her fingers grazed his belt .

As her hands hit his bare skin, Motor jumped back from her like he'd been shocked. He locked eyes with her. "You sure about this? I wasn't expectin'...you don't hafta..."

"I'm sure." Hope answered with a nervous smile. "Holy shit, I have NEVER done anything like this in my life but I am so so sure."

Girls had been using that line for ages, I've never done this sort of thing before'...which was usually total bullshit but looking in Hope's eyes, he was a 100% sure she was telling the truth. She looked totally terrified and excited all at the same time. A smile twitched at his lips, "Well ok then."

She looked nervously at the passenger side of the car. "Is she gonna wake up if we..."

Motor pulled open the door to the back seat. "That girl ain't wakin' up for shit, she's out for the count. You can holler all you want to."

Hope giggled nervously as she climbed in the back seat with him and slammed the door shut.

X _**Call Me A Relic. Call Me What You Will. Say I'm Old-Fashioned. Say I'm Over-The-Hill**_ X

Vix had just made her way back over to the contingent of Sons, set to take a much needed break, when Chibs grabbed hold of her hand and diverted her, "No no no no ya don't... I need a dance partner."

"Come on Chibsy. I wanna drink a little drink, smoke a little smoke, kiss up a bit on my..." She cast an eye over to where Juice was, FUCKIN' PASSED OUT in the corner. "Mother Fucker!"

"Nope... there''ll be no kissy-kissy with Juicey-Boy, He's down for the count, luv." Chibs laughed. "So whatdya say to a spin 'round the dance floor?"

Suddenly the opening chords of a familiar song pumped out of the jukebox. _**DA DA DA DA DA DA... DA DA... DA DA DA DA DA DA … DA DA...**_Vix rolled her eyes, "Fine but if you attempt any _Risky Business _moves I will kick your ass, Chibsy."

The half-hammered Scotsman grinned, "Aye... ya promise?"

Cracking up, Vix playfully pushed him onto the dance floor as Bob Segar began reminiscing about the days of old. The song was an instant crowd favorite and before long the dance floor was once again packed. Vix leaned in and hollered over the music. "Looks like you're covered for dance partners."

"Aye! Bugger off if ya want!" He laughed, pecking her cheek before she weaved through the crowd. She made it to the edge of the dance party and ran smack dab into what felt like a wall. She looked up, startled and found she'd in fact run into a wall of Opie. He looked in a word; OFF. He muttered an apology of sorts and pushed past her towards the exit. Vix's gaze landed on Jax and shot him a WTF? shrugged and stood up, muttered something to Tara who was talking to the girl seated next to her, and then he made a bee-line for the exit.

Across the bar, Clay drained the last of his beer and stood up. "Alright kids, time for Daddy to call it a night."

Tig glanced up, his attention instantly switching from partying to his club responsibilities. "I'll ride back with you." He was half way out of his seat when Clay put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down.

"No..stay...have a good time." Clay said then teased, "You couldn't ride if you wanted too...been hittin' that shine jar a little hard."

"I'm fine." Tig replied.

Jaci, who was very much NOT fine, snorted a laugh. "Questionable at best." Clay laughed in agreement.

Tig shot Jaci a look of warning. "I'm FINE. Trip to Charming and back's a piece of cake."

Clay shook his head. He smiled at Jaci. "See ya later, darlin'." He started to head toward the door.

"Goddamnit." Tig seethed. He looked at Half Sack who was sitting at the next table. He leaned back in his chair and smacked the kid hard in the back of the head. "Hey, numbnuts." He pointed toward Clay who was moving toward the exit. "Act like a goddamn Prospect and make sure he gets home ok."

Half Sack gave the SAA a frown of disappointment. Tig pointed a finger in his face. "Do NOT say BUT. You say BUT I wanna stay here and I will knock the shit out of you. You're lucky to even be in here tonight...your ass should be outside watching the bikes. Now go!" Half Sack nodded and chased after Clay.

Outside, Jax spotted Opie leaned against his bike. He walked over and gave his friend a concerned look. "You a'ight, bro?"

Op stared at the highway that ran in front of Big Daddy's establishment. "That song...was Donna's favorite."

"Shit...sorry, bro. I didn't know." Jax said with a grimace.

"How could you? Song sucks...why the hell would anybody LIKE it?" Op snorted. He took a drag on his cigarette. "Her and Ellie used to blast it, dance around the living room."

Jax just smiled sadly but didn't say anything because what the hell did one say to THAT?

The best friends stood silently in the parking lot. When he could tell that the cursed song had ended, Op sighed and felt an odd urge to go home and see his kids. He crushed his cigarette on the gravel. "I'm gonna head home."

"You ok to drive?"

"Yeah...I'm good."

Jax nodded and clapped a hand on Op's shoulder. "Be careful driving back. I'll holler at you tomorrow."

He headed back inside the bar, only to meet Clay and Half Sack walking out. They nodded a cool good night to each other.

Op turned to see his President and the Prospect walking toward the bikes. "You guys leavin'?"

"After midnight...I might turn into a pumpkin at any moment." Clay retorted with a grin. "Prospect's escortin' me home."

Op stared at the kid, who looked bummed to be leaving the party early. He waved Half Sack off. "Go back inside...I'll ride back. I was leaving anyway."

"You sure?" Half Sack asked hopefully. Op nodded and the kid looked over at Clay for final approval. Clay waved him off and he jogged back into the bar.

"Well..let's roll." Clay announced and threw a leg over his bike.

XX Don't Fear the Reaper XX

Forty five minutes later, Motor wandered back inside the bar and made his way to Tig and Jaci's table. His cousin was sufficiently hammered and grinned at him. "Get those girls all squared away?"

"Yep." he replied coolly.

Jaci looked more closely at him, catching SOMETHING in the tone of his voice. She had known him for years, knew his subtleties. She smiled at him, "Motor...somethin' you wanna share?"

"Nope." A full on grin spread across his face. He did have a pretty smile when he chose to actually show it. He tried to deny the obvious.

"Bullshit...you're shirt's on backwards." Tig pointed out.

Motor glanced down and noticed, sure enough, that the tag inked into his black t-shirt was now in the center of his chest. "Shit." He slid off his cut and pulled his t-shirt over his head.

Jaci's eyed went wide. "MOTOR! You dog!"

"She's the one pulled me in the backseat." He defended as he shook his shirt right side out.

Tig perked up, "You get both of them?" Jaci smacked Tig on the shoulder in disgust. Motor just shook his head, not giving any details. He stood up to pull his shirt over his head but Tig stopped him as he got distracted by the huge Reaper that covered the Bama SAA's back. "Goddamn, bro...THAT'S a fuckin' Reaper. Let me see that shit."

Motor's back was covered in much the same way as Jax and Opie only his bottom rocker said ALABAMA and the Reaper that was normally swathed in a black hood was instead covered with a vibrantly hued, tattered Confederate flag, a nod to the charter's Southern heritage. The bright red and blue colors of the flag somehow managed to make the Reaper's face even more sinister looking. Tig stood staring at Motor's back and it was too long before some wolf whistles were let out.

"Motor...put those hairy titties away!" Nolan yelled from a few tables away. Motor flipped him off and slid his shirt back down and tucked it into place.

"Nice huh?" Jaci asked Tig. "BB and Bodie have the same one." She realized she'd never really asked why Tig didn't have a Reaper on his back, he was actually sort of lacking in the tattoo department. "Why don't you have one?"

Tig scoffed and drained the last of his beer. "Shit...I carry enough shit on my back for this club. Don't need a tat to prove it." He glanced over at Motor. "No offense." Motor waved him off, the way he was feeling right now...nothing could upset him. Tig remained standing. "Think it's time to finish off the rest of that shine and start the after party." He clamped a hand on Motor's shoulder as he motioned for Jaci to come on. "See ya in the morning, brother."

Motor up-nodded and glanced at his cousin as she wobbled past him. "Be good, J."

**~To be continued...**

_Don't worry, we're not teases...the rest of the night's events will be posted in a day or two. For now, here are our musical selections for this chapter._

Good Time, Alan Jackson... .com/watch?v=PSROm-vgVRk

Sideways, Dierks Bentley... .com/watch?v=35bB9DVS0m0

Me and My Gang, Rascal Flatts... .com/watch?v=mKM6d53thNs

Old Time Rock and Roll, Bob Segar... .com/watch?v=SsSVcRYh8dE


	19. Chapter 16 Closing Time

**Walk Away from the Son****  
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SoA  
****Chapter 16- Closing Time (One last call for alcohol)**

**By BG and Reaper**

**X ****25 or 6 to 4**** X**

In the alley behind the bar, Tig and Jaci drained the remaining moonshine. He leaned up against the building, waiting for the alcohol to kick in. He would fully admit to loving the backwoods brew, the buzz from it was unlike anything he'd drank before and it was a damn good thing the stuff wasn't more readily available or he'd be in trouble. "Alright...let's go." He announced and grabbed Jaci's hand, heading toward the parking lot.

Neither of them were capable of passing a field sobriety test at this point in the night but they managed to remain quiet as they walked, except the occasional snort of laughter from one of them when they swayed into each other or stepped on one another's feet. They stumbled across the street to the motel and walked down the sidewalk, trying to find their room. "What number is it?" He asked as he started to wrap his arms around Jaci from behind. His buzz was really taking off and the sight of her in that tank top and tight jeans, knowing he was seconds from being all alone with her was getting him riled up.

Jaci pulled the key from her pocket and stopped to take a closer look. "Thirteen...no wait...eighteen." She squinted and frowned. "Shit...I can't see straight...I dunno."

"What's the problem? My little nerd accountant can't read a number? Ain't that what you do ALL DAY?"

"Yeah but I'm not usually shit-faced when I'm at work, asshole."

"Give it here." Tig growled as he snatched the key away from her. He couldn't actually make out the number either but faked it. "Thirteen." He pushed her to the right door and held her against his chest as he reached around her and slammed the key into the door. He wiggled the key but nothing happened, he tried again but to no avail.

Jaci shook with laughter. "Ha! I'm not the only blind one! Maybe it's eighteen...or maybe you don't know how to work a knob." She turned and put her back against the door, trying to be serious but laughing. "I hope your knob problem doesn't extend to other...knobs." Her laugh was cut off as he slammed his mouth against hers. As he kissed her he took her right hand and let her feel how hard he was.

"Does that _feel_ like I have a problem?" He hissed. She bit her lip, smiling as she shook her head. "Alright then." He shoved her further down the walkway. "Eighteen it is." As they neared the door, he handed her the key. "Here hotshot, you do it."

Jaci worked the key in the lock as Tig pawed at her from behind. She smiled as he kissed her neck and felt her up. A memory flash took her back to the first night they had crossed the line with each other. The night he had won at Bingo and then had been drunk and all over her as she had tried to open the door to her duplex. Lost in thought, she stopped trying to open the door.

"Unless you want me to bend you over the railing out here, you better work that KNOB a little quicker, doll." Tig warned.

"Can't have that, can we?" Jaci teased and finally popped the lock. She opened the door and they stumbled inside. Tig slammed the door behind him with a kick of his boot.

The room wasn't spectacular, it was basically a roadside roach motel, only without the roaches. The room was small but clean with an old TV on the dresser. Two worn chairs flanked a tiny table and a queen size bed helmed the remainder of the space. Jaci couldn't shake the sense of deju vu she was getting from the moment. True, they had never gone at it in a motel room before but there was a familiar VIBE about the situation. Tig was drunk and handsy and she was excited...like she had been that first night with him, not knowing where things were going but loving every second of it anyway. Maybe that was the liquor playing tricks with her head. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been this drunk...it was probably a few months ago at some party in Oakland; she didn't want to think about those days.

Tig had let her walk away from him as he slid off his cut and draped over the back of one of the chairs. He untucked his shirt and popped another button on it before pulling it over his head and throwing on the table. He stared at Jaci, who was just standing in front of the dresser with a blank stare on her face, seemingly lost in thought. He snapped his fingers to get her attention. "Hey...zombie girl...strip."

His voice got her attention and she looked over at him as he clicked on a lamp and shut the curtains. She started to slide out of her boots but lost her balance and steadied herself by leaning against the hip high dresser. She pushed out of her boots and socks without using her hands and gave him a drunken smile, it was hard to be sexy when this intoxicated. He stood a few feet away from her and resisted the urge to help her out of her jeans, lift her up on the dresser and go at it. The moonshine buzz was started to do that thing he was quickly learning to love...things would get blurry, like any other drunk but then every few minutes things would slow down and come into a focus so sharp it seemed like a movie. It was like seeing things in black and white, then having them switch to full HD color. He made a motion with his finger, telling her to keep going with the strip tease, knowing he'd never get one out of her sober.

Jaci watched Tig as he stared at her and felt an odd rush of power. At the moment she had what he wanted and she wondered if it was always that way with them. He played his feelings down but had she gotten to him as much as he had gotten to her? They had surely done some damage to one another, had she burnt him the same as she had been? Her brain stuck on the word burn. _Burn...fire. _A slow lazy smile spread across her face as she started to hum an old Rolling Stones song. She pulled her tank top over her head and let it fall to the floor. The humming changed to soft singing that he couldn't make out, he could barely hear the melody but could see her lips moving slightly.

She had her eyes locked on his as she slid her hands down her bare abdomen and worked the button fly of her jeans slowly open. She pushed her low ride jeans down until they hung even lower on her hips and then stopped for a moment. She watched his eyes scan her body and saw his fists clench as he spotted the dove tattoo on her hip. She ran her thumb over the tat she knew he loved and pushed her jeans all the way to the floor, stepping out of them. Next she unhooked her black bra and threw it to the side. She was still singing something as she crooked her finger and motioned for him to come to her.

He covered the distance between them in two steps but forced himself not to grab her. She sat back against the dresser and he reached out and trailed her body with the fingertips of his right hand. He grazed her collarbone, her left breast, her stomach."What the fuck are you singing?" He whispered. It was driving him crazy...but in a good way. As he pushed her panties down and off, she stood and pressed her body against his. His buzz switched everything back to fuzzy for a moment.

She let her lips graze his right ear and hummed a few notes before singing quietly and slowly, "_So don't play... with... me... cause your playing with fire." _She felt him wrap his left arm around her lower back and hold her tightly as he kissed her. He broke the kiss but kept his head next to hers as he took his right hand and maneuvered it between them and slid his fingers along her clit. Her breath hitched at the touch and she moaned into his ear as he continued the motion. She bit his earlobe and then his neck as he slid his fingers inside of her.

He kissed her again and she sucked his tongue slightly as they broke the kiss. "Goddamn...that mouth of yours." Suddenly he knew what he wanted to be doing the next time his buzz switched to high def. He pulled away from her and breathed. "Come here." He walked to the wall next to the bed and pressed his back to it. With his eyes locked on hers, he worked at his belt with his left hand and held out his right to Jaci. He pulled her toward him and then left go of her long enough to slightly push down his jeans and boxers. "On your knees."

"Oh you're first tonight huh?" Jaci smiled back at him devilishly. "Say please."

"Fuck you." Tig smirked and then repeated. "On your knees." His words were harsh but his tone was playful. She complied and slid down in front of him. He stared down her with lust lidden eyes and ran his right hand over the back of her head, smoothing her hair. She took his cock in her left hand and licked her lips. His breathing picked up in anticipation of the main contact. "Come on..." She ran her tongue around the tip and sucked it slightly before taking all of him in her mouth. He let out a half groan, half muffled laugh at the sensation.

Some would say the position of power had shifted since she was on her knees...but the truth of the matter was quite the opposite. She knew he was now putty in her hands. She worked her mouth up and down the length of him, settling into a good rhythm. She was oddly thankful for being so drunk and from the sound of Tig's breathing and random mumbled cuss words, he was happy too. Being drunk, she thought LESS and did MORE...instead of wondering if she was doing something right, she just went with it and with her gag reflex dulled by the all the alcohol, going with it meant going deep.

Tig had leaned his head back against the wall as she went down on him. He was loving every second of the contact as it was when his buzz shifted on him again. Suddenly her mouth, which been feeling great, felt fuckin' amazing. He swallowed hard and popped open his eyes. Every feeling just _crystalized. _He flexed his hand that had been resting lighting on the back of her head into a fist and grabbed a handful of her hair. She moaned but didn't stop, just kept working on him. "Fuuuuck." He breathed and she pressed her hand against his lower back, trying to get a better angle on him. Impatience bloomed within him and he grabbed the back of her head with both hands. He had planned on getting a blowjob for a few minutes before stopping and heading to the bed with her but the sensations were just too strong now. His hips bucked in a steady rhythm and before he knew it he was essentially just fucking her mouth. Her hand on his back suddenly moved to the front of his thigh, trying to slow down the pace.

Jaci knew he was getting close to coming so she didn't want to slam on the brakes but suddenly she didn't feel so good. It was as if her body chose that moment to make her brutally aware of every beer, shot and swig she had thrown back earlier in the night. But Tig wasn't taking the hint she had given by pressing back against his leg. She clamped her eyes shut. _Ok, he's almost there, just hang in there a few more seconds. When he says he's coming just pull off and catch it in your hand, he won't care he'll..._

While she was busy thinking of her exit strategy, Tig blew his load...in her mouth. "Motherfucker!" He growled as he held her head in place, draining the very last bit of his orgasm. "Shit...ahhhh...fuck." Jaci kept her eyes closed and swallowed hard, trying not to wince as she did it. He let go of her a second later and slumped back against the wall, running his hands over his head, slicking his hair back. "Holy shit... that was fuckin' good."

Jaci wiped her mouth with her hand and fell back on her ass on the floor. She leaned against the bed for a moment and looked up at him. The look must have held a bit of disgust because he cocked his head. "What? You ok?"

"You're supposed to WARN me before you do that." She said quietly. She didn't mind swallowing but she did like to know when it was about to happen.

"Shit...I got caught up." Tig replied with a slight laugh while catching his breath. "You look a little fucked up. Are you..."

Jaci didn't hear the end of his sentence. She was up on her feet and stumbling toward the bathroom. She managed to flick on the light and just barely had the toilet lid up before she violently tossed up ALL of the night's liquids. She wretched again and held on tight to the Porcelain God before her.

"Oh THAT'S sexy." Tig teased from the doorway of the bathroom. He stood in just his jeans and had his arms crossed as he watched. "Was I a little too much for you?" Jaci managed to fly the middle finger on the hand that wasn't holding her hair back. He snorted a laugh. "If it makes ya feel better...that was quite possibly the best blowjob I ever had." Again she flew the bird in his direction.

She finally finished and sat back on the floor, the tile cold against her naked skin. "Oooooh, too drunk. WAY too drunk." She groaned as he laughed. She momentarily hated his personality. He was definitely not the type to offer to hold her hair back or to lift a finger to help her in her current situation. He was the type to point and laugh. _Asshole._

"So...you done for the night or do you wanna go a round?" He asked with a smirk as he thumbed back toward the bedroom.

She glared over at him while hugging the toilet again and waved him off. "You got YOURS...I don't give a shit about getting MINE."

"Hell, I'll go back to the bar then." He retorted and pushed himself off from the doorway and toward the bedroom...only he was drunker than he thought and stumbled. He threw out a hand to keep himself from hitting the floor and stood up on wobbly feet, mumbling. "Ok, maybe not."

Jaci let out a snort of laughter which earned a good natured "SHUT UP" from Tig who was now shucking his clothes and collapsing on the bed. She felt her stomach clench again and was off to the races yet another time. After that round was over, she reached up and pulled down a towel, spreading it over the tile. She laid down flat on her back, thankful that the cool of the tile managed to bleed up through the towel. She groaned and wished the room would stop spinning. After a few minutes, she passed out.

XXX

Tig jerked awake. He was laying face down on the bed, naked...he didn't know how long he'd been asleep. He lifted his head slightly and looked around while pawing around on the bed. He was alone. He rolled onto his back and yelled in an annoyed high pitch voice. "HEY!" There was no response so he yelled again. "JACI! What the fuck?"

The second round of yelling woke Jaci up. She frowned and tried to remember where the hell she was. _Bathroom...naked...mmmm. Oh yeah, now I remember. _With a groan, she sat up and answered in a shaky voice. "Um...I'm in here."

"Whaddya doing in there?" Tig yelled as he stared at the bedroom ceiling.

A moment ticked by as Jaci looked around the bathroom, getting her bearings. "Nothing."

"Come to bed!"

She put a hand on the wall and pulled herself up. The room in front of her waved and shifted but then came into focus. She walked slowly to the bedroom. The bedroom was pitch black and she tripped over some clothes in the floor but managed to keep herself upright by holding onto the bed. She felt her way up the mattress and pushed back the covers. Tig had already slid under them and laid on his stomach. She laid down on her side and faced the wall, appreciating the bed's softness compared to the hard bathroom tile. _Just go to sleep...it'll be better when you wake up._

A few minutes later, Tig threw an arm over her back somewhat violently. "Don't puke on me." He mumbled and settled back to sleep. She mentally rolled her eyes, _How sweet._

**X**_** I Am Medicine & I Am Poison... I Can Help You Up or Make You Fall **_**X**

Rachel nodded at Vix, handing her a wad of cash. "Why don't you and Juicey stumble on across the street? I'll handle last call."

"You sure? Another hour ain't gonna matter much in his present state of intoxication." Vix muttered glancing over at Juice who was passed out at a table in the corner.

"You know I find it extremely ironic that White Lightening put him under the table, considering he has those tattoos on his head." Last Call Larry mused.

Vix smirked. "It was a combination of that and the snuff that Bodie and Nolan talked him into trying."

"That shit is nasty." Rachel made a face. "Mouth cancer and spit cups, yuck!"

"Poor baby didn't even get to spit... fuckin' Tig heard about the little Country Boy indoctrination and snuck up on him, slapped him on the back." Vix paused to laugh. "And what did Juice do? He fuckin' choked and swallowed the wad of chew.. He turned so green he looked like goddamn Kermit the Frog."

"Take him over to the motel … put him to bed, Mama.. I got this."

Vix hugged her friend, bid good night to Last Call and Big Daddy and Ms. Bonnie, thanking her again for the Family Discount on lodging. Over in the corner she tapped Juice on the shoulder, "Come on baby... wakey, wakey."

Juice groaned into the table his head was currently resting upon. "Do me a favor, baby... take my gun and shoot me. Just once smack dab between the eyes, put me outta misery."

Vix laughed. "You know what they say about misery, baby."

"What?" he asked lifting his head.

"It loves company...let's head over to The Sandman and..."

Suddenly Juice surged to his feet and rushed in a zig, zag manner towards the back exit. Raising an eye brow Vix shrugged, grabbed her hoodie and purse and after hollering "LATER Y'ALL!" headed out after her man. She found him on his hands and knees puking his guts out in the back alley. Vix grimaced and quickly turned and headed back inside, giving him a few moments. She had a weak stomach since her appendix attack all those months prior. She stood in the back hallway waiting for him to stop tossin' his cookies... meanwhile Hap emerged from the Men's Room.

He up nodded to Vix. "You alright?"

She smiled and nodded. "Just waitin' for Juice to stop hurling and then I'm gonna try to drag his ass over to the motel without getting either of us killed crossing the highway."

Hap pushed open the backdoor of the bar and stared out at form of Juice, collapsed next to his pile of puke. "You're gonna need some help. Be right back."

"Thanks, Hap." She walked over and crouched down next to Juice.

He looked up at her, "You remember what I said about that bullet? Better make it, two... don't want to end up just maimed."

Vix ran a hand lovingly over his mohawk. "Oh sweetie, I'm too good a shot. I could get the job done in one."

**X**_** I'm Sorry But I've Got To Say... I'm Too Drunk To Fuck**_** X**

Happy and Vix each looped one of Juice's arms over their shoulders and managed to walk him across the highway to the motel. Once inside the room, they dumped him on the bed. He promptly fell off of said bed and hit the floor... hard. Vix grimaced, "That's gonna leave a mark." She thanked Happy, who returned back to what was left of the party at the bar.

She shut the door and heard Juice mumbling into the carpet. "Shit, I'm gonna fall."

Vix rolled her eyes. "Bit of a delayed reaction. Baby, you're already in the floor. You can't fall no further."

"Okay." He replied, his voice muffled from being face down on the floor.

"Poor baby." She pulled a blanket out of the closet and covered him up. "You sleep it off, I'm gonna take a bubble bath." She sighed as she headed to door. "This is SO not how I pictured this night ending."

Happy walked back into the bar parking lot just in time to see Lauren walking out of the front door. He nodded at her and she smiled. He cocked his head and asked in that rapsy voice of his, "You callin' it a night?"

Lauren shrugged. "I dunno...am I?" Hap thought for a second and shook his head then nodded for her to follow him...back across the highway toward the motel.

**X **_**Splish, Splash I was takin' a bath, 'long about a Saturday Night **_** X **

Vix had strolled down to the motel's office. Ms. Bonnie owned the place and actually lived on the premises and had just arrived for the night from the bar. She sweet talked her out of a bottle of 'real' shampoo and some bubble bath and returned to the room. Juice was still exactly where she had left him, on the floor, drooling and snoring. She drew a hot bath and had been soaking in the bubbles for a long while when Juice came _crawling_ thru the bathroom door.

Juice pointed at her and managed to say, "close that."

She eyed him funny as he crawled over to the toilet and puked. She instantly grimaced and yanked the shower curtain closed at the same time cranking the volume on her iPod. She was a sympathetic vomiter, just _knowing_ he was puking activated her gag reflex slightly.

After a whole song had played, she opened the curtain and pulled out her earbuds as he slumped against the side of the tub. He wiped his mouth and made a sour face. "Fuck, that shit is worse the second time around."

Vix laid a wet wash cloth over his head. "When you're done I got a few of those wisps waterless toothbrush thingies in my purse and a tin of Altiods." He mumbled something that sounded like mmm hmmm, followed by a groan. She climbed out of the tub and wrapped a towel around herself. "Grabbed a bottle of water and some Tylenol from Bonnie. You want em'?"

He started to nod but thought better of it and said, "Please."

She came back wearing her bra and panties and carrying the water, pills, mints, and toothbrush and sat with him on the floor for a long while. She thought the room had stopped spinning for him but then he mumbled something about a kaleidoscope. She smiled. "Come on, Juicey- let's get you to bed."

He declined her assistance and told her to go on to bed, he would get there some time but right then the floor felt like one of those trick ones in a fun house. She offered to sit with him but he shook his head, which caused a groan. Finally she covered him up with the blanket from the closet and walked into the bedroom, curling up on the bed alone.

**X **_**Take Me Nice, Slow An' Easy... Rock Me 'Til I'm Bad To The Bone**_** X**

Lauren was sitting up in the bed of the motel, naked and exposed except for those parts covered by the sheet draped across her lap. Next to her, Happy lay with his arms propped behind his head. She was reaching out her fingertips and tracing the intricate lines of the tattoos that covered his chest like paint on a canvas. "I think you can look for companionship... but not for love. Well you could, but it would just be deeply frustrating, since it's not something found. It's something that happens as the result of something else... LUST at first sight is a more honest assessment."

He nodded mulling over her words. "Interesting," He muttered in his deep, gravelly voice.

"You don't need to pretend to be interested."

"I don't pretend shit. I like your voice... keep talkin'."

"About what?" she asked

He shrugged. "'Bout yourself I guess?"

"Fine, ok. Um…my name is Lauren Bacall," Her gaze narrowed and before he could even comment or react she added, "And everyone knows me and wants to live to tell the tale will never make a parallel reference to the famous face of the same name."

Happy remained mute but she could tell he was listening. "I grew up in Georgia and no where near any of the cities everyone's heard of. Think smaller and then divide by 100. I'm out here figuring out what to do with my life. I mean, while my life is moving ahead with or without a plan. Let's see what other interesting tidbits I could amuse you with? I used to smoke but that was mostly to piss off the nuns who raised me and make them shake their heads and worry about my immortal soul. I also like to drink, as should be clearly indicated by my presence at the bar, that had nothing to do with the nuns. And I enjoy sex... as should be obvious from our activities of a few moments ago. I am sure that would shock the nuns speechless, which makes it all the more gratifying. Which only proves they were right to worry about my immortal soul to begin with, I guess."

Beside her, Happy chuckled. "Sorry, way too many Nun references in the past few days...but you certainly used the Lord's name in vain a few times." He shifted his gaze to her face and studied her intently. "You're an orphan?"

She nodded. "In the sense that I have no parents to speak of, yes. But if they are dead or alive is unknown to me. I was abandoned in a grocery cart at the A&P when I was 6 weeks old. When I was a kid, I used to wonder what type of people I came from, but as I grew older I figured the fantasy stories I made up were probably far more interesting than any reality."

"Knowing where you come from don't change who you are."

"I can draw but it's a real raw talent. I never took classes or anything. My pipe dream is to write these amazing epic adventures for kids and illustrate the books myself so kids like me have an alternate universe to escape to." Her smile faded a little as she looked into his eyes that were so intently focused on her. "I've never told that to anyone." She suddenly felt like she had opened up too much and turned the spot light. "I like your voice too."

"Started smoking way too young." He chuckled. "Took a blow to my larynx at 17. Most people think it's scary."

She laughed, tucking loose strands of hair behind her ear. "In certain situations, I could see that. And I think scary would be an understatement."

Lifting one arm out from behind his head, he tugged her hand, pulling her closer, his eyes going smoky with want – again. He kissed her hard and fast and then released her to sit back down again. His expression had shifted, turned surprisingly gentle. She wouldn't have taken him for the type who appreciated tenderness.

She heaved a cautious little laugh. "Like I said before, I don't normally go home with guys I meet at a bar or anywhere else for that matter. I could never have imagined…" She broke off and shook her head. "And yet this seems almost too easy... and THAT scares me a great deal."

"Maybe it's easy for a reason. You don't gotta walk away from something just because it scares the fuck outta you. Look, it took balls to approach Vix and ask to meet ME of all people... then to follow me back here so I ain't too keen on buyin' the whole poor innocent..."

Her lips twitched and in a daring move she leaned forward until her nose and forehead touched his, almost going crossed eyed in an attempt to stare him down. "Is it odd that this seems more intimate then ten minutes ago when you were INSIDE me?"

She got her answer when she looked at the intense desire burning in his eyes. This was still scary.. yet very potent. She felt his fingers in her hair. He brought his other arm out from behind his head and both his hands cupped the back of her head. She leaned closer until her mouth was as close as it could be without touching his.

"I want to know what I have to do to provoke you... to make you lose control." She murmured.

His lips curved slowly, yet the resulting smile was more primal than amused. She drew her hands down his forearms as he continued to stare into her eyes, feeling his pulse thunder through the veins of his forearms, now flexed under her fingers. The inherent whisper of danger didn't remotely make her feel like backing down. No, it sent a hot thrill right through her. Since when was she a thrill seeker? She who had worked so hard to create sameness, searching for a solid foundation after having none of that early on in life... and yet she was here tossing caution to the gale-force winds.

"You don't want that." he said in a low, rough voice.

"Don't want what?" she asked. Her smile faded and maybe her throat was a little tight, too because she swallowed hard.

"To see me lose control... to push or provoke me." He answered.

She felt a shockwave course through her as he banded his arm around her hips and dragged her up on her knees. Using his own, he knocked her legs apart and drove into her from behind. She cried out, startled, and pitched forward onto her forearms. His rhythm changed to slow and steady. She moaned or maybe it was him, it didn't' really matter.

In his mind he heard her saying _it seems almost too easy. _He had to admit they did flow together too easily. She was right. He snapped out of the contemplation and leaned forward and nuzzled her neck then bit the ridge of her shoulder, afterward soothing it with his tongue. She started moving faster, clenching around him. He shifted her so that her back arched more fully and when he pushed into her again with force, she came hard, spasming around him and crying out. He continued to pound away from behind. He bit her ear, licked her neck... completely absorbed in the action. She was trembling and her legs and arms were shaky when he finally withdrew.

Saying nothing, he stretched out and pulled her to him, legs and arms becoming an intertwined mess of limbs, again flowing together too easily. Hap lay locked deep within a sensual fog and had no desire for that fog to lift just yet. Reality would rear its ugly head soon enough. Snuggled against him, held there under his volition, exhausted physically and emotionally, she dozed off. He stroked her hair, her back and the length of arm she'd draped across his chest. Closing his eyes, he succumbed to sleep.

He never opened his eyes when he felt her slip out of bed. He heard her locate her clothing amid the trail on the floor leading across the room. Disappearing into the bathroom, she re-emerged after a few moments fully clothed. He feigned sleep when she walked over to the side of the bed. He ventured a soft snore as she stood staring down at him before turning and heading out the door.

**X **_**You'll Never Feel All The Things I CAN'T Say & I'll Never Know If It's Better This Way**_** X**

Tig sat on the sidewalk outside of the motel room, shirtless and barefoot. He pulled his lighter from his jeans pocket and fired up another cigarette. He was using the pre-dawn hours to think, to try and get his head straight. The clock was ticking on his and Jaci's little timeout. For a few weeks now, since the salon had been torched, they had gotten along, had fell back into caring about each other, fell back into something that felt like the good old days of their previous relationship. But now the salon was finished, the Bama crew would be leaving in a few days and then it would be back to reality, back to normal everyday life. What were they going to do?

He rubbed the bridge of his nose and thought of why he'd left Jaci in the first place. He'd like to say it was because Jaci was better than him, deserved better than him but he had been too selfish to care about that completely. _Donna...I bailed because of Donna. _The guilt, the shame...he hadn't wanted any of that to land at Jaci's feet. The heat on that situation had turned down temporarily but he knew with every stern look from Jax, that it would come to a head one day. But how long did he have? A week, a month, six months, a year? He stopped thinking about getting caught for a moment and focused on what was really important...the truth. And the truth of the matter was that he was full of guilt, had been miserable since he had pulled that trigger...but right now, in this moment at 5am, he was happy. With Jaci, he was happy and Donna was still rotting in a grave because of him. That was the truth in its simplest form; what the hell was he going to do about it?

If he wanted to keep her, he was going to have to risk her finding out about Donna. As sure as death and taxes, that shit was going to come out one day. What would she do when she found out? Would she bail or would she stand by him? Wasn't there some god awful country song about standing by your man? He blew out a stream of smoke and wondered if things could be different. What if instead of pushing Jaci away again...he pulled her closer? What if he made an honest to God TRY with her? He'd keep his nose as clean as he could, try to do right by her and keep her close enough to him that when all the bad shit came out, maybe she'd stand by him. If she knew the TRUTH of the matter, that Stahl had framed Opie for a rat and that Donna was just a horrible accident, maybe she'd understand. She knew him better than most, would know that he was sorry for Donna, she'd know there was good still left in him.

Tig felt pretty good about his new little plan to try and stay happy until his mind flashed to Vix and Juice showing off their tattoos earlier in the evening. _Crows...commitment...shit. _The next image in Tig's head was of the infinity symbol inked on the inside of Jaci's left wrist. He suddenly realized that she had dropped on his ass for something and he had no clue what. Here he was asking her to eventually overlook murder and didn't even know what had happened with her and her ex.

The sound of the door opening behind him made Tig jerk in surprise. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Jaci staring at him. He quickly faced forward, feeling like he was busted. She was wearing only his black button up shirt and had unrolled the sleeves so that they hung half way down her hands. "What're you doing?" She asked quietly.

He took another drag from his cigarette and answered without looking at her. "Thinking...sobering up."

"Mind if I join you?" She asked and then padded out on her bare feet across the sidewalk. She wobbled slightly as she sat down next to him. "Damnnit...this hangover is going to suck." He tilted the pack of cigarettes he held in his hand toward her. She shook her head in rejection and then rubbed her face with her hands. "No...I'm back on the wagon with everything...FOREVER."

"We need to talk about some shit." Tig said spontaneously. Jaci glanced over at him and thought _Oh hell, here we go. _He flicked ashes onto the pavement next to his feet. "What'd he do?" He asked. "Mr. Infinity, what he do to make you leave him?"

Jaci sat up straight and stared at Tig. "This is what you've been sitting here thinking about? Of all the things in the world?" He gave a shrug as his only answer.

She crossed her arms over her chest and stared down at her feet. Dean and that whole mess was the last thing she wanted to talk about, especially with Tig but figured curiosity was finally getting the best of him. She didn't exactly know how to answer his question. Tig was big on loyalty and she didn't know how he'd react to the way she'd handled things.

"What'd he do, Jaci?" Tig slowly looked in her direction, his mind racing with a few horrible guesses and her silence not doing him any favors.

"Dean has a little boy...named Mason. The only problem with that scenario is that his son was conceived the weekend I was away shopping for wedding dresses." Jaci said, opting for the blunt route. "According to him, he got cold feet, got drunk and hooked up with a girl that worked at his club. He came clean when he found out he'd knocked her up, told me two months before the wedding."

"Fuck." Tig snorted dismissively.

Jaci took it as him thinking cheating wasn't a big deal, not understanding that Tig himself thought he was fucked. Her forehead wrinkled in frustration. "Hold on a second...I can handle being cheated on and I can handle raising someone's else kids. I just couldn't handle the TIMING. It wasn't just that he cheated...its the fact he waited until THEN to do it. I mean, don't ask me to MARRY YOU and then decide you're not done running around. And then having living breathing proof of him pissing on everything he'd over told me, it was too much."

Tig remained silent and Jaci shook her head. All the anger she had buried concerning Dean flared up again. She struggled to explain the devastation she had felt, the overwhelming feeling of being set up...Dean had promised the world and had ruined it all in a fleeting moment of stupidity.

"Any other shit and I could have stayed...it would have been tough, but we would have made it though. But what he did...it was just so BLANTANT. I mean, shit...he cheated on me during the BEST part of our relationship...what the hell would he do when the road actually got hard?"

"You couldn't trust him." Tig said matter of factly. He ran his hand through his hair and suddenly doubted his decision to stick with her. "We're fucked, you know that right? Cheating on you is going to be the LEAST bad thing I probably do."

"Don't do that...don't write us off like that." Jaci pleaded. "What he did...you can't compare yourself to him. You've never promised me the world. Expectations are different. And you and me have already been through more shit than..."

"Fuck expectations." Tig spat, cutting her off. "Either you can get over something or you can't."

"Exactly...and I can handle a LOT of shit, Tig. I've seen plenty of horrible things in my life, I've forgiven people left and right for things. Hell, that comes with the territory of the club I guess. Dean could have come home and told me a million other things and I could have gotten over it, stayed with him. If he had a drug problem or a drinking problem, had got arrested, lost his job for some stupid reason, had accidentally killed someone in a drunken car wreck, I dunno, whatever. I'm not a fair weather kind of girl, Tig. I don't bail at the drop of a hat."

Jaci frowned and had the sudden feeling that they weren't talking about Dean anymore. Something was bothering Tig, he was agitated. "What is it? What's got you so worried?"

"Nothing." He dodged the question and stood up. He paced for a second and then answered honestly. "People talk about the two of you like it was a goddamn fairy tale. You had something PERFECT and it still got fucked up. It's just a matter of time with us...some shit will happen and..."

She shook her head and looked up at him. "No it won't."

He snorted, "You can't say that..."

"Yes, I _can_."

"And why's that, smartass?"

"Because I love you more." Jaci blurted without thinking. She slapped her hand over her mouth and stared down at her feet, holding her breath. _Oh my God, what did I just do?_

Tig was stunned and stood staring at the top of her head. Silence washed over them. She didn't know if it was better to shut up or to try and explain. She stood up and muttered "sorry" before turning to go back inside.

He reached out and clamped a hand on her wrist. They stared at each other. He finally snorted a half laugh, amused and saddened by the fact that she felt the need to apologize for saying she loved him.

_Screw it, cat's out of the bag...just keep going. _Jaci tried to explain herself. "I'm sorry...I know you don't believe in it or don't want to hear it or whatever. But that's just the way it is. I know I was with him longer and maybe he was more RIGHT for me in theory but its totally different with you. The depth, the intensity... it's just...more." She shrugged." Right or wrong...I love you. I'm sorry."

"Stop saying you're sorry." Tig growled and dropped her hand. "Jesus."

"Sorry. SHIT!" Jaci clenched her fists in frustration. "Goddamnit." She shut up and stood still.

"Just... just sit down." He took his place back on the sidewalk, she sat down next to him, only not as close as before. _Well shit...there it is. She's all in. Now fucking what? _He frowned and stared at a piece of glass lying on the pavement a few feet away from him and ran his fingers over his goatee. He slid his eyes to the right and watched Jaci fidgeting nervously with the cuffs of his shirt that she wore.

He inhaled and slowly exhaled. _Fuck it...her blurting that shit doesn't change anything...I'm in. _He had left her last time and they had both been miserable and to what point? He needed her, she wanted him so fuck it. When the shit came down, he'd take his chances. He turned and locked eyes with her. She looked...expectant and nervous. He chose his words carefully, he couldn't give her what she probably wanted but he could try to give her _something._

He looked back across the parking lot. "You know that girl I told you about..the one that was riding with me, that died?" Tig just glanced to see Jaci nod her head. He stared back down at the pavement. "I loved her...I mean totally fucking loved her. She was a good girl. I haven't felt like that since." He shook his head. "I've run through a shit load of women, even the mother of my kids...nothing's even come close."

Jaci realized she had been holding her breath and let a shaky one out. She tried to control the shock of hearing Tig's declaration and the pain of its reality. He had loved THAT girl...but did he love HER? Jaci had always just assumed he did love her, just wouldn't SAY it. But here he was saying it...maybe she had been completely wrong and he just didn't FEEL it for her. She tensed up.

Tig looked over at her for a half second again saw that she was bracing for some impact and realized he was fucking things up. He shook his head and tried to think of the right things to say. _Come on asshole, you're supposed to be HELPING. _He repeated his last statement. "Nothing's even come close...until that night, fuckin' Valentine's Day...driving back from burning that goddamn cabin with you. You were sittin' there eating chocolates after sticking your finger in every damn one of them, humming along to the radio." He smiled slightly as he avoided eye contact. "I knew I was in fuckin' trouble...should have just walked away. But what'd I do? I bought you goddamn flowers."

Jaci laughed slightly at the memory of their first meeting. She didn't completely understand what he was trying to say but she knew it wasn't bad. Suddenly the heaviness of the night was defused a bit.

"I'm trying to pull my shit together, Jaci. I've done some horrible shit...but I'm trying you know?" Tig blew out a breath. Time to seal the deal. "This timeout we're on...it's over. The deal was we'd stick together until shit was set back to right with Twisted. So...now what?"

She shrugged, surprised by his willingness to talk about the issue, usually he was the type to dodge the 'where is this going' conversations. "I don't know...what do you want to do?"

"What do YOU want to do?" Tig retorted. She bit her lip and hugged her knees.

The silence between them was brutal and Jaci couldn't stand it any longer. "Ok, look...I'm too hungover for this. I can't sit here for the next hour and PULL an answer out of you. I pretty much just blurted my feelings on the subject so let's just get to it. Count of three...thumbs up if you want to stay together, thumbs down if you wanna walk."

"Seriously?" Tig questioned. The method seemed a bit spontaneous for her.

"Yep...here goes...1...2...3." She squeezed her eyes shut at the last second and jutted her thumb out. A moment later she heard Tig mutter, 'Shit.' Her heart stopped temporarily and she popped her eyes open. They both had their hands outstretched...thumbs up. She looked over him. "Why'd you say shit? We're on the same page!"

He watched her cautiously. "You really want to do this?"

She nodded. "The real question is do YOU really want this? And don't think about what other people think about it, or how you think I should feel. Just...you and me...do you want it, I mean for sure?"

"Yeah." Tig replied...in a way that sounded a lot like surrender. Jaci nodded and leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. He draped an arm over her knees and they sat in silence for a long while, just staring over the deserted parking lot together.. He finished another cigarette, stubbing it out on the sidewalk. He mulled over the selfish path he'd committed to...it would work, they could be happy and maybe that would make Jax and Piney think twice about seeking revenge. _They'll see me with her and know that I'm trying...that I'm not some heartless lost cause. _

The minutes ticked by before he ventured one last topic. "Why don't you get that tat covered up?"

Jaci traced the tattoo with her finger. "Reminds me nothing's perfect."

"Ain't that the fuckin' truth." Tig muttered. Her tattoo had always sort of annoyed him but after their talk just now, it REALLY annoyed him. He didn't want another guy having some claim on her, even if it was a bad reminder. "You need to cover it up."

"Oh do I?" She asked with a laugh. "What do you suggest? TRAGER in big black block letters? Ain't happenin'. Unlike my sister, my tats don't happen on a whim." She shook her head with amusement. "You might be jealous now, but if I really went and put your name on me, you'd be pissed. I went and did that, you'd cut it off me."

Tig just smirked, "Blowtorch." Jaci frowned so he clarified, "Blowtorch...that's my preferred method of tattoo removal these days."

"Good to know." Jaci replied with a weird look, "But I think its a TAD bit early to be talking about anything PERMANENT between us. If you haven't noticed, we tend to be a bit volatile."

She mulled over a risk in her head and decided to take it. "Hey...can I ask you something?" He didn't decline so she continued. "That girl...that you loved? Did you ever _tell _her that you loved her?"

Tig shook his head. "No...but she knew."

Jaci nodded as he gave her a look that spoke volumes. She chided herself for being jealous of a dead girl but at least now she knew that chick hadn't gotten anything more out of Tig than she had yet. She used his shoulder as a crutch and pushed herself up. "Let's go to bed."

He stood and followed her towards the room. "Hey...you sure you don't wanna make a list about us? Like pros and cons, plus and minus shit?" She turned and glared at him for making fun of her OCD. He smirked. "What? I thought you LOVED making lists. You afraid there'd be too much in the negative side to ever be able to balance the scales... the devil might win?"

She climbed into bed as he shut and locked the door. "I'm learning the key to being with you is to not over-think it." She turned onto her stomach and got comfortable. "Whatta you always tell me? Turn your brain off...be cool. Let's just do that." He slid into bed behind her. Her hangover made for very easy sleeping and she felt her eyes getting heavy already. She mumbled, "We'll make a list down the road...miracles happen every day...maybe you'll get better, Devil won't win."

**X **_**I'm your biggest fan... I'll follow you until you love me **_** X**

Vix hadn't meant to pass out, but she had. She'd closed her eyes and the next thing she was conscious of was the bed dipping as Juice crawled in. She opened her eyes and shifted, looking at him. He was fresh from a shower and looking better, less Kermit the frog like. "How you feeling?"

"Still buzzed but very better."

She smiled. "Good." She reached out and touched his face.

"Sorry 'bout last night."

"You were dunk off your ass, baby." She leaned up and stole his lips for a kiss. "My honorary backwoods country boy." She teased with a grin.

Juice chuckled, "Yeah, don't think I passed that initiation."

Reaching up she cupped his cheek. "There's an initiation 'bout to get underway for a club I am certain you'll want to join."

He lifted his eyebrows in question, "Yeah? What club's that?"

"The Vix Parker Fan Club."

Juice grinned and nodded. "NICE!"

"Membership has it's privileges." Vix advised with a grin. "Here... let me show you."

**X **_**Just Call Me Angel of the Morning, Angel...**_** X**

At 8am, there was a loud pounding on their door and the doors past them; some deep voice yelled, 'Breakfast, move your ass.' Jaci groaned then rolled out of bed and padded to the door. She opened it and found her purse hanging from the knob. She grabbed it, thankful for the little bit of makeup she had inside it. She slammed the door, threw Tig's shirt on the bed at him and headed to the bathroom to get ready for an all too early public appearance.

As they stepped outside of the motel room and started to make their way to the diner, she felt a heaviness hanging between her and Tig. He was quiet and wouldn't really make eye contact. She wondered if saying those three little words to him might have done more damage than good. Maybe they just needed time to adjust to the situation. It was easy to say shit in the dark, quite another to look at it in the light of day.

XX

The diner was already packed with members of their crew, it looked as though the only people missing were Vix and Juice...and Happy. Motor waved a hand at them and Tig and Jaci slid into the booth occupied by her cousin and Bodie, who had a huge plate of food in front of him and was ATTACKING it. Even Tig was a little taken aback by his lack of manners. Motor glanced at the jackass beside him, rolled his eyes and then nodded toward the plate of pancakes in front of Jaci and the breakfast platter in front of Tig. "Ordered for you guys."

"Thanks." Jaci said quietly and picked up her fork and ate a bite of pancake that she really didn't want. Tig started in on his plate while Bodie was still woofing his down. Jaci frowned. "Bodie...CHEW IT for God sakes. You're gonna choke."

Tig scoffed. "Goddamn man."  
Bodie looked up and answered with his mouth full. "SORRY! I can't help it. I'm ...I'm..." He waved his hand around trying to find the right word.  
"Ravenous?" Jaci offered with a look of disgust.  
"YES! Ravenous...thank you!" Bodie replied."I burnt a shit load of calories last night, bro. Good God! That chick wore me the fuck OUT!" He laid his head back for a moment and laughed. Then he raised himself up half way in his seat and then hollered, "Hey! Hey! Show of hands...who got laid last night?"  
Eyes rolled but then random hands all over the diner shot up. "He has no filter." Bobby mused. "I thought Vix was bad but Bodie is just completely filter DEVOID."  
"You'll have to excuse him...he's from Texas." Trace retorted. TNT could only nod in agreement.  
"You say that like it's an explanation." Bobby mused.  
"Where we come from it IS." TNT said with a wink.  
Vix, Juice and Happy walked into the diner about the time the questioning was occurring. Vix frowned. "What's with the show of hands?"  
Bodie explained his poll then asked, "What about you three? Wait didn't y'all leave together last night? And here y'all turn up conveniently together the next morning."

"What are you hinting at, dude?" Juice asked.

"Bodie likes to play amateur detective." Vix said with a snort. "He's got a secret decoder ring and everything"

Tig frowned at the trio and asked Juice,"What happened to your head?"

Vix, wanting to spare Juice the embarrassment of the truth, smiled coy. "It's all fun and games til someone gets hurt, hmm baby?" Juice nodded and Vix laughed as she snaked her arm around Happy "Come on, Hap. I think we owe you some breakfast for helpin' out last night. You knew exactly what to do. I definitely needed ya to help get me there".

No one said a word but looks of shock and amusement and awe abounded.

Hap chuckled slightly and decided to play along. "Anytime ...your man didn't seem to mind me helpin' you out." They settled into a booth and looked over the menus, ignoring the stares from the crew and the questioning glances that several people were shooting.

Bodie laughed and turned back to his table mates where his laugh came to an abrupt stop. Tig and Jaci weren't holding up their hands. He frowned. "Whoa! What happened here?" He eyed Tig, "Bro...you of all people...I really expected both YOUR hands to be raised. Once for her and maybe once for some other lucky lady."  
"Shut up, Bodie." Motor said quietly, sensing some awkwardness coming from his cousin and Tig.  
"What? You guys don't wanna think about last night?" Bodie waggled his eyebrows. "Oooh, I know what happened...stuff got a little freaky deaky last night, didn't it? And now, in the bright light of this glorious mornin', you're a little embarrassed about it huh?' Bodie grinned, "Been there, done that, brother."

Tig grimaced, "Do I LOOK like I get embarrassed?"

Motor, looked at his cousin who was picking at her food and keeping her eyes down. "Don't think he was talkin bout you, Tig."

Jaci glanced around the table and then quickly averted her eyes. Bodie was thinking things had gotten too freaky...the truth of the matter was that things had gotten too HONEST. She suddenly felt like a fool and here Tig was acting like something BAD had happened. She shoveled another bite of pancake into her mouth and started to chew but then felt her stomach clench. _Goddamn hangover! _

"Well, whatever...hey did your sister really fuck that Happy dude while Juice either watched or was comatose in the corner?" Bodie asked Jaci.

She groaned and pushed out of the booth abruptly.

Everyone watched Jaci walking quickly toward the bathrooms. Tig glared at Bodie. "You ever been punched in the mouth for talking too much?"

Bodie grinned and shook his head 'no', but Motor told the truth of the matter by nodding his head in the affirmative.

**XX**

Vix watched Jaci make a hasty exit and excused herself to go check on her sister. She pushed open the bathroom door and heard retching. "Goddamnit, why's everybody keep puking around me?" A moment later the toilet flushed and Jaci walked slowly out of the stall. Vix stood at the sinks with her arms crossed, smirk on her face. "Too much fun last night?"

"Yeah." Jaci answered sarcastically.

Vix frowned, remembering that J and Tig hadn't raised their hands during Bodie's little 'who got laid' poll. "Besides being hellishly hungover...what's wrong with you? You ok? Something happen?"

Jaci washed her hands and sighed as she dried them with a paper towel. "Let's see...I gave him the best blowjob of his life...then promptly hurled and fell asleep in the bathroom. Then at 5am, we had a big talk on the motel sidewalk about what the hell we were doing with each other and I blurted out that I loved him. So between the morning after awkwardness and my hangover...this day isn't really going all that well."

Vix's mouth dropped open. "HOLY SHIT...you TOLD HIM?" Jaci nodded. "What did he say?"

"Nothing...I mean, we both made it pretty clear we wanted to stick together, give it another go." 

"Well...that's good I guess." 

"Yeah." Jaci leaned against the sink and inhaled deeply. 

"You look like shit." 

Jaci smirked, "Thanks, sis. Look, there is no way I can do breakfast. I'm going outside to get some air. Tell the guys to laugh all they want, this light weight is hungover." She strolled out of the bathroom and then right out the front door of the diner without stopping.

Motor watched his cousin storm out of the diner and looked at Tig. "Trouble?"

"Panties equal problems...what're ya gonna do?" Tig answered vaguely.

"Truer words have never been spoken, bro." Bodie nodded along like the Dali Lama had just dropped some infinite philosophy on him but then he grinned, "BUT...pussy does make the world go 'round."

Tig couldn't help but nod in agreement, "Absolutely...and I'll chase it till the day I die...just saying its a real pain in the ass sometimes."

Motor and Bodie simultaneously answered, "Amen."

**XX**

_That morning sun made its way  
through the windshield of my Chevorlet  
Whiskey eyes and ashtray breath  
on a chert rock gravel road_

_What the hell did I do last night?  
That's the story of my life  
Like trying to remember words  
to a song nobody wrote_

Jaci had went straight to TNT's truck and pulled down the tailgate. She climbed onto it and laid down. Later, everyone started to mill out of the diner and got ready to head back to Charming. Suddenly the sun that had been shining warmly on her face was blocked out.

"You ridin' back with me?"

She opened her eyes to see Motor looming over her. The bike ride with her cousin the previous night had been awesome. She hadn't rode for over a year and had thoroughly enjoyed it. Tig had given her a harsh look when she told him she was riding along with Motor on his bike. But when she asked if he rather she ride with him instead he gave her an even worse look. Tig had finally waved her off and warned Motor to be careful. Now the thought of zipping around on the back of a bike was out of the question. She shook her head and groaned. "No thanks." Motor shoved at her shoulder playfully and walked off to his bike.

Tig walked over and helped her down from the truck. "What's wrong with you?"

"Hungover...what's wrong with you?"

He grinned. "You really want me to answer that? I've had a prison shrink tell me what's wrong. You got all day?"

She smiled slightly and the awkwardness between them was slightly broken. "Evade and parry...you are the King of Deflection."

Tig shrugged. "Go on...get in the truck. I'll see you later." He walked her to the passenger side door and then leaned in so he could whisper in her ear. "Stop acting so damn weird." She turned and looked at him, only to have him wink at her and walk off. That one look told her everything was fine between the two of them...but just like an ever growing list of other things, she knew some stuff wouldn't be discussed again.

_~ Hope you enjoyed the fluff! Now its all seriousness, heartbreak and drama for the rest of our version of Season 2!_

Musical selections: (this site hates us and cuts off the front part of our links. All the songs can be found at youtube.)

Don't have to go home, GretchenWilson .com/watch?v=HqpkbI6HgsY

Play with Fire, Rolling Stones .com/watch?v=Jeg-jT7MnEs&feature=related

Too Drunk to Fuck, Buckcherry .com/watch?v=DEDBlBI_zr8

Slow and Easy, Whitesnake .com/watch?v=KmSg33WMJao

That Lonesome Song, Jamey Johnson .com/watch?v=Z_-ZA_yatuA


	20. Chapter 17

**Walk Away from the Son****  
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SoA  
****Chapter 17-Payin' Dues**

**By BG and Reaper**

___Everybody's got their dues in life to pay  
I know what nobody knows  
Where it comes and where it goes  
I know it's everybody's sin  
You got to lose to know how to win_

_-Dream On - Aerosmith  
__  
_

**XXX **_**It's About To Be A What? GIRLFIGHT!**_** XXX**

Since _Stockton Signs_ had went out of business, Vix had decided to take a ride to Galt with Nolan and Bodie to see if they could find a good deal on a new sign for Twisted Scissors.

"Sorry Vee, maybe you can have Juice make the Prospect stand outside the salon. Hold up a homemade sign or somethin'?" Nolan suggested as they were walking across the lot after another fruitless search. When Vix failed to respond, he glanced up and saw her rooted in place a few paces back, staring intently across the street. He followed her gaze and saw a chick with blonde hair. Before he could pose a question, Vix was hollering across the street…

"CAW... CAW... CAW!"

Both Nolan and Bodie watched the girl across the street turn in the direction of the noise. A look that bordered on shocked amusement tinged with a bit of fear played on her face. Vix continued, "You know what that sound is, bitch? Hmmmmm? CAW… CAW… CAW! That's the sound of The Crow! Translates into _**Polly want a beatin?**_"

Across the street, the blonde dropped the cantaloupe she'd been holding and took off at a mad dash down the sidewalk. Before either of the 'Bama Sons could grab her, Vix bolted, hot on the blonde's heels. Vix chased Polly Zobelle down the block and watched as she darted down an alley next to some sort of Military Surplus store. A half a block behind Vix ran Nolan and Bodie. The 'Bama SONS watched Vix disappear down the alley and sped up their chase pace.

The alley took a sharp right and dead ended behind a business. Vix looked around, it appeared as the Zobelle bitch vanished. It was then she noticed the fire-way beside the building. She peered down it and saw Polly. Vix smirked and walked quickly after her prey, her voice echoing in the small space. "CAW... CAW... CAW! Little Polly…CAW CAW CAW!" Vix watched as Polly stopped and looked at her before making a sharp left out of the fire alley and into a parking lot.

Vix followed suit and was stunned once again to see hide nor hair of the damn chick. She heard footsteps falling hard in the fire-way and turned to see Nolan and Bodie rush into the lot. Suddenly she watched them both stop dead in their tracks and heard them holler something...just as Polly kicked her from behind.

XX

In an unmarked sedan across from the _Galt Military Supply _sat ATF Agent June Stahl. One of her underlings currently seated next to her behind the steering wheel muttered, "Did you happened to catch a look at the vests those two bikers are wearing?"

A smile crept onto the fed's face, "Alabama in the house. Hmmm, Polly Zobelle versus Vix Parker...not sure I'd shell out the money for pay-per-view but we'll certainly enjoy a FREE front row seat, hmmm?" She waved her hand dismissively at her driver. "Be useful... snap a few pictures of this for posterity's sake."

XX

The blow knocked Vix sideways but she rolled with the momentum of it and tucked her head in and ended up in a kneeling position. Vix would never trade one summer spent down in 'Bama playing A-team and war with the boys. The skills she gleamed from those sunny days were far better serving than any silly sleep away camp making macramé pot holders.

Vix glanced up at Polly and saw her stare in shock and retreat two or three steps. That hesitation gave Vix the opportunity to get to her feet. She read the girl's next move and was not surprised when Polly charged at her, hands extended looking liable to rip at Vix's hair or claw her face with her finger nails. The youngest Parker sister swiveled her hips and brought her left leg forward, aiming a kick at Polly's chest but surprisingly the chick leaned away. Vix quickly brought her left foot down and moved forward making for a round house kick with her right. She extended her knee and felt her heel connect with Polly's chin

XX

Even from her seat in the car, the shock of the contact of Parker's foot to Zobelle's chin made Stahl gasp aloud. "Maybe I was wrong, this might be worth paying to see."

Grabbing the camera from the newbie agent, she started snapping various shots, rapid fire. This little scuffle wasn't going to last much longer.

XX

The force of the contact had caused both of Polly's feet to leave the ground and she landed HARD on her ass in the gravel parking lot. "CAW... CAW… CAW! Ya know little Polly... fair warning and all, I DON'T fight like a girl."

Her moment of vanity was short lived as Polly scissored her legs out and swept Vix's feet out from under her. A second later Vix hit the ground, equally as hard as Polly had. "Fair warning ... neither do I." Polly hissed.

XXX

"Damn!" Stahl muttered, lowering the camera and taking in the whole scene through the windshield. "Not sure who I'd bet on here"

"When a fight goes to the ground... the stronger person normally wins." The younger agent pointed out. "My money is on the cute one with the tattoos."

Stahl turned her gaze to the moron sitting next to her. She rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the_ Girls Gone Wild - Galt edition_.

XX

Polly rolled back two or three feet away and struggled to her knees. Vix was quicker, she bolted up and covered the distance between them throwing punches at the other girl's face. Polly hardly had time to deflect the punches when Vix followed up with a vicious kick to her chest. Polly went skidding backward and landed, once again, on her ass. Vix took two running steps and launched herself at Polly...

The Zobelle offspring popped an elbow strike at Vix's cheek and the pain brought fresh tears to her eyes. Polly used Vix's second of disorientation to latch on to fists full of Vix's hair, pulling them both to their feet. Vix seethed with anger and fed off the burning pain of her scalp. She grabbed hold of Polly's waist and dropped all her weight down on one knee, flipping the bitch on her back. The air left Polly's lungs with a _whoosh_..

"Enough of this bullshit! You tried to set me on fire you fucking cunt!" Vix screamed and leaned down to unstrap a small .38 snub nose revolver from an hidden ankle holster.

XX

"Holy shit!" The younger agent exclaimed. "Should I call this in?"

Agent Stahl held up her hand in a _let's just wait and see_ gesture.

XX

Nolan saw the gun and tried to reason with Vix. "A beatin' is one thing darlin'. Offin' this bitch in broad day light in the middle of town for anyone to see... that ain't too smart, girl."

"SHE SET ME ON FIRE!" Vix seethed, gun still pointed at Polly.

From his left, Nolan saw Bodie draw his gun from his shoulder holster and aim it at some point off behind him and to his right. Nolan's hand found its way to the butt of his handgun and was pulling it out when a voice, thick with an Irish accent rang out.

"Lower your weapons, all of you." That, along with the sound of a pump action shot gun feeding a round into the chamber, grabbed everybody's attention. "Polly are you alright, lovey?"

Nolan used the fraction of a second that the Irishman's attention was on the girl laid out on the ground to pull his own gun and set his sights on Edmund Hayes.

XX

From her seat in the sedan across the street, June Stahl groaned. "Mexican standoff." In the distance, police sirens could be heard. "Shit…who the hell called this in? I want to see how it plays out and now's not the time to be bringing any of these idiots in."

XX

Bodie narrowed his eyes. "Drop the gun, Lucky Charms."

The police sirens grew louder, making Nolan groan. "Ten to one those sirens are headed our way. Come on Vix, let's go!"

Without taking her eyes or gun off Polly, Vix answered, "You two go... I'm not leaving."

"You know we can't do that." Bodie hissed. "You come on now 'fore this gets real ugly."

"Listen to your friends, darlin'. Think of how this is gonna play out. I own this store, I'm a concerned citizen seeing two bikers and an old lady beatin' the livin' piss outta and pullin' guns, likely illegal at that, on an innocent girl doin' her Saturday shoppin.'"

"Innocent MY ASS!" Vix seethed.

"There's other days for score settling, Vix. Come on now." Nolan pleaded.

"The Po-Po is imminent." Bodie warned with his gun still trained on Edmund.

"I got ears, B" Nolan retorted. He glanced at Vix. "Judgin' by those sirens, we got two minutes, tops sweetheart. Lower your weapon and move your ass, PARKER!"

Vix snarled but eased the hammer on the revolver. Bodie barked at Edmund, "Lower your weapon, IRELAND!"

When Edmund complied, Nolan snatched the gun from Vix, stuffing it in the back of his jeans and re-holstered his own. He grabbed Vix by the arm and rushed through the side entrance to the fire-way.

Bodie nodded and tipped his leather cowboy hat at Edmund. "Slan go foil." He announces in perfect Gaelic tinged with a Texas draw. His excessive watching of Braveheart had finally paid off. He holstered his gun and followed Nolan and Vix down the alley.

Edmund hurried over and helped Polly to her feet. "Are you ok? What the hell was that about, Polly?"

She answered his questions with a question of her own. "Wha-what did that guy say before he left?"

"He said _goodbye...for now._"

_**XXX **__**That's My Story(and I'm stickin' to it)**__** XXX**_

"I can't believe he did that." Vix stared a ways down the empty lot, half-way between Galt and Charming to where Nolan had rolled his own bike…_on purpose._

"How else we gonna explain your bruises and bumps, hmm?" Bodie mumbled.

"Take a poll in Charming and the vote would probably reflect doubts about my ability to walk and chew gum at the same time." She started in Nolan's direction. "I'll send you money to repaint her."

Nolan shook his head. "Nah, that's alright." He studied her, "That bump's swellin' up nasty, bet you got a tiny concussion or at least a helluva headache. Let's get you back to Charming. Maybe Jackson's old lady could look ya over." He waved his hand. "Go on and ride with Bodie. Given our cover story, he's apparently the better rider."

Bodie smirked as he fired up his bike. "Can you repeat that? I'd like to hear it again. I'm the better what?"

Nolan nodded curtly. "Let's ride."

Vix climbed on the back of Bodie's bike and secured her helmet. She hollered over the hum of the bikes "I need to swing by Cara Cara. Luann has me and Rachel's pay."

_**XXX **__**Opps, I Did It Again!**__** XXX**_

Ima's phone chirped to indicate she had a text message. Sighing as she turned from the rack of lingerie in her dressing room, she flipped it open and saw that it was from Tiffany.

_He smiled n nodded at me 3 ! _

She quickly shot off a response. _ Who?_

A minute later her phone chirped again. _JUICE! What should I do?_

Ima rolled her eyes. She spotted Bobby walking by and hollered out, "Hey Elvis! Where's the Biker Beautician?"

Bobby stopped mid-stroll. "You know for a little girl you got a HUGE fuckin' attitude problem. And if you ain't noticed, I'm an accountant…not Vix Parker's social secretary."

Ima smirked. "Hmmph, bet you know her sister's schedule though."

That snide remark went all over Bobby. He stepped closer to Ima. "You may be High Bitch In Control here at the cum factory but that shit don't parley to life outside these walls. If you wanna know 'bout Juice's old lady ask HIM, he's here checkin' on some internet shit. As for Jaci, I'd watch yourself. _Takin' it up the ass_ ain't no fun as it relates to a tax audit."

Ima scoffed and turned on her heel, pout firmly in place. She stomped out the door into the waning late afternoon sun. She paced and ranted to no one but herself and her phone chirped again. She flipped open her phone with such force she was amazed the thing didn't break in half. Looking down she read:

_Still waiting on advise! OMG! Just heard HIM dishin' about HER & some dude from Alabama? WTF? U were soooo right about HER. She sooooo doesn't deserve HIM! PS Spazz is lookin' 4 U... needs to do test lighting. Where R U? _

"Goddamn, Tiff…calm down." Ima mumbled. She turned at the roar of Harleys being driven down the lane that leads to the studio. She types a quick response to Tiff:

_I told U So! I need a mental health moment... stand in 4 me 4 lighting._

Ima watched as two SONS pulled up on their bikes and she smirked as she watched Vix climb off the back of one of the bikes. As she watched, the trio carried on a somewhat seemingly heated conversation. _Wicked Witch of the South_ nodded towards where Juice's bike was parked. Even from the distance Ima was from the group they didn't seem too happy. Her phone chirped AGAIN and she quickly read the text.

_OK. Have U seen Rodrigo? HE is MIA! Spazz needs him for lighting test too! _

Ima believed if she'd been cartoonalized at that very moment there would be a big light bulb hovering above her head. She had to fight the urge not to glance up just in case. She quickly texted a reply and stood smirking as she watched the trio in deep discussion for a few more minutes before making their way slowly across the parking lot.

_**XXX **__**Stupid Boy**__** XXX**_

"Sorry Tiff, not happening." Juice said, shaking his head emphatically.

"Oh come on... it'll only take a couple of minutes, ten tops. Spazz just needs to test the lighting." Tiffany pleaded.

"Where the fuck are Ima and Rod? Time is money!" Spazz, the production assistant, hollered across the studio.

"Ima will be back in a bit. She asked me to stand in for the test. Rod's AWOL again…but Juice is gonna fill in for him." Tiff announced.

Spazz rolled his eyes. "Great! Let's get a fuckin' move on or when Luann gets back, guess who's ass she's gonna chew."

Juice groaned. "This is…" He shook his head. "This...I got some bad feelings about this."

"Juice?…they're just asking you to stand in for lighting. What's it gonna hurt?" Bobby asked, trying to reason.

"Famous last words, dude." Juice muttered as he begrudgingly walked across the studio and onto the set.

Tiff smiled at him. "Ok, now all you have to do is stand where they tell you and don't move. Easy as pie."

"Ok people, the first scene is Rodrigo...that's you." Spazz eyed Juice. "Have Ima, um Tiffany, bent over the hood of the car. You are searching her for contraband."

Tiffany smiled and walked over to the prop car, assuming the position. She glanced over her shoulder at Juice, still rooted in place at the edge of the set.

Spazz looked over and rolled his eyes. "You need to be IN the SCENE for the full effect of the light test."

Juice groaned and walked over standing behind Tiffany, bent and spread.

"Thank you." Spazz huffed and took a light reading with a hand held monitor. "Good ... good. Ok, um, _fake-Rod_, put your right hand on her hip and lean down over her. With your left hand act like you're searching her tits for illegal weapons."

Juice complied with a scowl. The light measurement was taken and Juice waited to hear the next directive but instead he heard a sound that stopped his heart.

"What the hell?" Vix exclaimed as she stood staring at the scene.

_**XXX Lyin' Eyes XXX**_

Still standing outside, Ima held open the door leading into the studio. A twisted smile played on her lips as she heard the verbal warfare taking place inside. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of red as Luann's Corvette pulled into the lot. Putting her acting skills to the test, the porn princess quickly whipped up some frantic tears and spread a look of horror across her facial features. She quietly shut the studio door and rushed off the stoop and across the parking lot to where Luann was parking her car. With her stiletto heels clicking the whole way, Ima arrived panting and playing up the Freaked-Out-Diva role to the hilt. "She's lost her fuckin' mind!"

Gemma glanced over from the passenger seat, "Who?"

"Vix Parker… she is in there." Ima jabbed a finger towards the building, "Wigging the fuck out on poor Tiffany."

"Jesus Fuckin' Christ!" Luann exclaimed.

"She's a complete psycho bitch! I may have to seriously consider NOT working until you can find someone else to replace her. This borders on hostile work environment."

Suddenly the door to the studio flew open, slamming hard against the outside wall of the warehouse. Vix emerged from the building walking backwards. "I'm not talkin' to you, bitch! What? OH! Fuck the High Road… it's so fuckin' ON!" They watched as Vix stormed back inside.

"Holy Fuck!" Ima choked, this time not acting. "I think she's gonna KILL someone."

_**XXX Take This Job & Shove It! XXX**_

"What in fuck's sake is going on around here?" Luann screamed as she entered her studio. A cursory glance showed Tiffany crumpled in a sobbing, quivering heep at a seething Vix's feet. Spazz and the crew were wide-eyed and slunk further off to the fringes of the set. A small handful of Sons on the scene showed a mixed bag of reactions.

Bobby stood with a cigarette dangling out of his mouth. His face held a "Holy Hell" expression, mixed with a slight look of guilt. Standing next to him, Piney shook his head, chuckling.

Annoyed, Luann hollered at the old man, "Excuse Me! If memory serves you're on the books as Security to protect my girls."

"You don't get to live to my age by stepping in front of runaway trains or getting between Ol' ladies…" He nodded towards Vix. "And the um, objects of their discontent." He stares down at the porn chick still sniffling on the floor and chuckled again.

Luann wheeled around and leveled her stare at Vix. "What the fuck are you even doing here Parker? It's your god damn day off."

"Yeah I bet NONE of y'all were expecting to see me here today." She shot a hostile glare at Juice.

"Like I told you before... that wasn't what it looked like." Juice advised, irritation edging into his voice.

Nolan shook his head and crossed his arms. "I dunno. I got 20/20 vision and I am pretty damn sure it looked like your old lady walked in and caught ya with a half-naked porn chick rubbin' her ass all over ya while you groped her."

"Fuck off." Juice spat at the 'Bama Son.

"Truth hurts don't it, Juicey?" Nolan responded with a cock of his head and a smirk.

Vix rolled her eyes, "Thank you for the instant replay, Nolan. However, what you failed to point out is WHO was doin' the rubbin' and we can't call her _Porn Chick_... she's an _**ACTRESS. **_ One whose clearly better known for the things that she does on the mattress."

Tiff's head sprung up, as if controlled by puppet strings, "WHOA!"

"The truth hurts don't it, Tiff." Vix seethed, mimicking Nolan's tone.

"Vix!" Juice barked.

"Are you fucking kidding me? You're taking HER side? Damnit, loving you results in whiplash, Ortiz!" Vix shook her head and stared at the floor while she blew out a breath, "I give up. I quit. There's not enough anti-depressants on the planet for me to be able to deal with this shit." Turning on her heel, Vix started towards the door and stopped just short. She spun around and strode over to where Ima was standing. "Keep fuckin' with me and I'll slip that dime-store halo off your head and strangle you with it. You've been warned before but let me remind ya again, stealin' what belongs to someone else won't make you any friends around here."

"Nol! Give me a lift to my sister's?" She glanced over at the 'Bama Son then her eyes flitted over to Juice. She quickly looked away; a sharp sadness pulled at her chest.

"Sure thing, Vee." Nolan quipped and followed after her, but not before shooting Juice a harsh look.

_**XXX No Use Cryin' Over Spilled Perfume XXX**_

Twenty minutes later, Vix had arrived at Parker Place just as, across town, Jaci walked down the aisle of canned vegetables on a search for Crowder peas. She cursed the small town grocery store and longed for the huge selections of Walmart back home. Her revelry was cut short by her cellphone coming alive with her baby sister's ringtone. She answered, "Hey chick…you're psychic. I was just about to call you. Are you and Juice coming over tonight or not? Just trying to figure out how much food to buy. Feels like I'm restocking a goddamn charity pantry every few days."

"Oh I'll be there but dickhead won't be." Vix spat and then ranted. "Matter of fact, I'm moving back home. TNT is in my old room right? I'll curl up in my walk in closet. I just can't stay at that apartment with him. And don't, DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT say a damn word on the tattoos."

Jaci rolled her eyes. "What the hell happened now? Vix I tried to bite my tongue, I did… cause I saw it comin'. It's two steps forward and three steps back lately with you two."

"Don't I know it." Vix said with a sigh. "I don't wanna talk about it right now. I'll see ya when you get home."

_**XXX Let's Fight XXX**_

It should've been a warning, a talisman, whatever you want to call it. As Juice pushed through the front door at Parker Place, the TV in the living room was blaring the latest Thompson Squared song. The duo sang the words:

_**Let's Fight, let's cuss, get mad, throw stuff...**_

_**Maybe call each other names...**_

_**Slam doors, break glass, i'll leave.. come back...**_

_**and I'll take all the blame...**_

_**Le's scream, let's shout, make up, make out...**_

_**Baby, just for tonight, let's fight.**_

He glanced at Motor, kicked back in the recliner, "She here?"

"Yep…kitchen."

Juice nodded. "Thanks"

"Don't thank me yet, Miss Vix is in none too good of a mood."

"Irritability is a common side effect of a concussion."Bodie quipped from here he stood leaning up against an archway.

"Concussion? What..?" Juice questioned, confused.

Clearing his throat, Nolan muttered from his seat on the sectional sofa, "While you were busy with the um, _Actress_, Vix and I took a little tumble off my bike."

"WHA... What?" Juice stammered, shaking his head.

"The streets in Galt are a goddamn liability suit waiting to happen." Bodie offered up as his part of the story.

"Don't worry none." Nolan reassured Juice with a disgusted roll of his eyes. "Any damage I did is completely superficial. The shit _you're_ doin' to her, now _that's_ leavin' a mark."

Juice glanced towards the kitchen, took a step and then stalled, leveling a glare at Nolan. "You and me aren't through discussing this."

Nolan gave him a fake smile. "I'll be here for a few more days, You come find me when you wanna talk." 

XXX

Juice entered the kitchen to find Vix emptying the dishwasher. Stacks of clean dishes were lined up on the center island; the sink full of dirty ones ready for the dishwasher once empty. "You wrecked and didn't tell me?"

Vix turned around. "You had your hands full at the time."

Juice rolled his eyes, "Very funny."

"No! It's not... there are a lot of adjectives I could think to use but FUNNY didn't even make the list."

XXX

The front door opened again and Bobby Elvis entered. "I'm late for the party?"

Motor chuckled, "Cocktail hour just started."

Bobby shook his head as he joined Motor standing in the archway between the living room and the dining room which afforded a clear view into the kitchen. "Sticks and stones, they may break bones but misinterpreted scenes have wrecked lives."

"Mmmm hmmm." Motor mused. "So ol' Bolt Boy wasn't messin' with one of them porn chicks?"

"Nah." Bobby answered with a shake of his head, "Not today, at least. Juice was a victim of circumstance and bad timing."

The sound of breaking glass drew their sharp attention to the kitchen in time to see a dinner plate whiz past Juice's head and smash against the wall behind him, as he covered and guarded against flying debris.

Bobby smiled slightly. "Juice and Vix, man, they're better than the HBO and Cinemax." Motor just shook his head

XXX

"Are you outta your fucking head?" Juice hollered at Vix.

"I just might be." Vix seethed, reaching for another off the pile of plates at her disposal. "When did you RE-define FOREVER to mean three fuckin' days or until the first time that Cara Cara Cunt bats her eye lashes at you?"

"How many fuckin' times do I have to tell you? It wasn't want you think! They couldn't find Rodrigo... they pulled me in for a lighting check. END OF FUCKIN' STORY!"

Vix smirked. "Puh-leeese! I was there, you had ample WOOD to take a few golf swings so don't feed me your bullshit stories." She cocked her head. "What? Nothing to say? Christ, my sister is always right. She said the tattoos were a bad idea."

Juice cocked his head as well, "You regret my Crow?"

"You make it very hard to be proud of it when you tarnish my reputation by laying with trash."

"That's NOT what I asked." Juice glared. "And I'd pick my words very fuckin' carefully."

"Are you threatening me, you fuckin' jack ass?" As the words flew out of her mouth, a ceramic mug flew out of her hand. It narrowly missed clipping Juice in the ear.

"Bitch." He breathed, suddenly having his fill he reached up and grabbed a long-handled copper plated frying pan from the rack suspended above the center-island stove. Holding it poised like a baseball bat, he sneered at Vix. As she left fly a salad bowl, he swung the pan around and metal met porcelain, sending shattered shards scattering to the four corners of the room.

Vix covered her face and head against the onslaught of falling china shrapnel then she popped to her feet breathing hard and looking more pissed off than ever. "Mother fucker!" She glanced down at her hand, which held a cup saucer and chucked it full-force at Juice's head. The saucer flew to close for the frying pan-bat to be of any defense and smacked him upside the head.

"You fuckin' cunt!" He hollered, dropping the pan to the floor with a crash and brining his fingers up to gingerly touch his bleeding cheek.

_The Juice and Vix Alls Fair in Love & War: Combat Rule Book_ specified that fights stopped at first blood. Vix shook her head and turned to walk out of the room. She paused and glanced over her shoulder. "If being an asshole were a crime, you'd be doin' 25 to life, you know that!" She turned around and began walking towards the hall.

His hand was on the meat fork before he realized it, her words rang loudly in his head, as he pulled back his arm and set the large serving instrument sailing end over end thru the air, directed at Vix's retreating figure.

XXX

She felt like something had bit her and paused, following the line of pain as it shot up her leg. Looking down she stared in disbelief at the sight of the meat fork buried in the back flesh of her thigh. The handle still waving up and down, each movement causing sharp pains to shoot thru her leg.

Feeling a bit light headed at the sight of her own blood pooling out around the tines of the fork stuck in her leg, Vix grabbed the wall for support. She glanced over at Juice, who was staring at her in muted shock, a horrified expression on his face. "You fuckin' STABBED ME? You MOTHER FUCKER!" 

"Holy fuck, baby! I didn't mean... shit!" Juice was beside her in an instant "I'm sorry, baby."

Vix slapped at him but had to stop, she had lost all will to fight. Oddly she began to cry, "I can't believe you stabbed me…you're a fuckin' dickhead."

"I know… I know... I'm sorry." Juice replied and stared at her leg in a daze. "I seriously can't believe it stuck."

"What?" Vix slammed her hand against the wall. "You can't believe it stuck? That's your response? You're a fuckin' asshole! Get it OUT of me!"

Reaching over, Juice was set to dislodge the fork from Vix's thigh when a hand suddenly clamped down on his shoulder. "Leave it there." They both looked up to see TNT had emerged from the bedroom where he'd been napping. Rumor had it that man could sleep through a tornado and he'd just about done that. "You pull that out here she's gonna gush blood the whole way down the hall. Wait 'til you get her in the bathroom. Put her in the tub, get the supplies ready first then pull it."

Juice nodded. Standing up, he offered his arm to assist Vix. She growled at him and attempted to push away. "I don't need your help, you fuckin' stabbed me."

"I swear to god, I didn't think it would stick. You were a moving target and I threw it end over end. How was I supposed to know?" Juice asked as he followed her down the hall. "Um, you might wanna limp faster. You're staining the carpet."

"Fuck you!" Vix hissed and they entered the bathroom one after the other. The door slammed shut behind them a second later.

TNT glanced over and looked at Nolan, Bodie, Motor and Bobby, all standing in the door way leading to the dining room. "None of y'all felt the obligation to stop that shit?"

Before they could answer, across the kitchen the door leading to the garage opened and Jaci took two steps inside what used to resemble a kitchen. Her beloved kitchen now looked more like ground zero of a 5.2 earthquake.

Jaci's stood with a canvas bag of groceries hanging from each shoulder and a bag in her hands. Her mouth fell open in surprise and her brow furrowed as she tried to process the scene before her. She knew Vix was already at the house and she had just seen Juice's bike in the driveway. "Please, please tell me this was some freak natural disaster."

Bodie laughed. "Sure it was. This is the result of a tornado meetin' up with a volcano...and um, I'm pretty sure there's some FREAKIN' goin' on in your hall bathroom. Well, after they stop her leg from bleedin'."

Jaci dropped the bags of groceries she was holding on the debris covered kitchen floor. She clamped down hard on the rant that was brewing inside of her. There was no use in freaking out, no amount of yelling was going to put her kitchen back together now. She turned and waved her hands "I can't deal with this SHIT. I'm going out to eat."

Before leaving, she walked past the hall bathroom, banged her fist on it twice and yelled, "Thanks for trashin' my goddamn house! I hope you bleed out! But if you don't, you better by God clean up the mess you two idiots made!"

XXX

As she reached the garage, Bobby came scurrying out of the house after her. "J! Goddamnit, would you wait a second?" She stopped and turned to glare at him. He pointed to the riding lawn mower. "Just sit for a moment, don't leave all pissed off."

Jaci huffed a sigh and slumped on the seat of the mower. She raised her eyebrows. "So what happened?"

Bobby grinned and looked skyward, deciding to give her the condensed version of events. "Let's see...Juice helped with a lighting check that got him in a compromising, although INNOCENT, position involving Tiffany. Your sister walked in on it and freaked...yelling, screaming, ended up spitting on Ima and punching Tiff. Which was great by the way cause the whole time Vix had her fist cocked, Tiff was screaming, "Not in the face, not in the face! " He grinned at Jaci, "Pretty ironic hearing that coming from a porn star."

Jaci covered her face with her hands.

Bobby scratches his head and winces. "It gets better...pretty sure little Miss Ima set the whole thing up with Juice, trying to start shit. Girl's outta control...was even running her mouth to me, insinuating you and me had a thing going."

"Say what?"

"Eh, she said something about how she was sure I knew YOUR schedule. I told her to shut up or you'd fuck her in the ass via tax audit."

"That bitch really needs to watch her mouth." Jaci said quietly as the slightest bit of panic bloomed in her chest. What if Ima had said something like that in front of Tig, about someone other than Bobby…say Chibs? How long would it take for jealous to spark in Tig and get out of control? Jaci gritted her teeth. "This is the last straw, Bobby. I've had enough that bitch."

Bobby waved her off. "Ima's a bully…always will be till she loses her looks."

They sat in silence for a long moment. Finally Jaci sighed and realized she was starving. "You wanna perpetuate a rumor and grab dinner with me?"

"Where's Tig?" Bobby asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jaci shrugged, "I dunno...I ain't his momma." She held her hand up. "Sorry, that sounded bitchy. I just mean that Tig and I are never going to be the type that feels the need to be together 24/7. He's off doing whatever. Come on, let's go."

They stood up and headed for her car. As she was pulling the car door open, she smirked, "Hey, over dinner you can help me make a list of all the shit Vix is gonna replace."

Bobby smiled. "You know it's bad, but when they started throwing shit, all I thought to myself was _there's another trip to IKEA._"

Jaci scoffed. "Ikea- schmea, if Juice is footing the bill for their joint hot tempered retardedness this girl MAY find her ass at Williams Sonoma."

_**XXX If Our Love Goes Up In Flames... It's A Fire I Can't Resist XXX**_

"Oh my god that is so much blood." Juice stood leaning over the side of the tub, handheld shower head aimed at the back of Vix's thigh.

Vix hung her head and steadied her breathing, "Is it slowing down at all?"

"Lil' bit... I think."

Blowing out a breath, Vix sunk down 'til she was seated on the tub floor. "It'll be ok. I've survived worse."

"Really?" Juice questioned with an odd laugh. "Worse than being stabbed by the asshole who claims to love you?" He reached out and cut the water off, letting the shower hose dangle.

"Is that all, Jean? You just _claim to love me? _ Don't _really_?" She asked in a confused tone.

"What?" Juice looked up from staring at his shaking hands.

"Nothing. Look, I didn't mean what I said in the kitchen, 'bout my sister being right. I don't regret your crow, not for half-a-heartbeat. I just think that maybe I love you too much, ya know with an intensity that borders on insane."

"Insanity is relative, I stabbed you with a meat fork... I coulda hit a vital organ."

"I threw dishes at your head... coulda caused brain damage."

"I don't ink the names of random chicks into my flesh, Vix." He said in a serious tone. "And I don't go around doling out crows and bolts."

"I know... I just... I hate that bitch."

"This doesn't mean I'm like him right?" Juice remarked with a frightened edge to his voice that made Vix's head snap up.

"Like who? What are you... oh shit, baby, NO!" Vix stood up and winced at the throbbing in her leg. Stepping from the tub she crouched down in front of Juice and made him look at her. "Don't even think that…EVER! Ok? Jesus, Baby!" She stood up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled his head into her stomach. "Juicey, come on now..." She coo'd.

Behind her a loud rap was heard at the door, followed by Nolan's voice inquiring, "How's it goin' in there?"

"Everything's fine!" Vix hollered. She heard Nolan's retreating footsteps and glanced down at Juice. "Everything IS ok, right?"

He nodded, "I'm so sorry, Vix."

"Me too."

XXX

Juice and Vix eventually made their way to the kitchen and set to cleaning up the hellious disaster they had made. Nolan stood in the doorway and looked at Vix. "You ok?"

"She's fine." Juice answered.

"I ain't askin' you." Nolan hissed.

"I am, Nolan." Vix soothed.

"He stabbed you."

"On accident." Vix interjected.

Juice stood up and leveled his eyes on Nolan. "You rolled your bike while she was on it."

"On accident!" Vix interject AGAIN. "Would ya'll just cool it? I can't stand to have my two favorite guys on the planet at odds... please."

The men stared at each other for another long moment before putting their heads down and setting back to cleaning.

XXX

When Jaci arrived home for the second time that night, peacefulness had washed over her house. The kitchen was pristine and the groceries she had dropped had been put away. Trace and TNT had retired to their respective rooms. Motor still sat in the recliner, only this time half asleep. He perked up slightly when she walked past.

"How are the lovebirds?" Jaci asked.

"Back to lovin."

She nodded and then stared at her cousin a minute, enjoying the silence in her house. Finally she smiled at him. "Know what I love about you?"

"List is probably endless." Motor replied with a shrug.

"It is…but I love that you are QUIET…just calm and quiet. Wish more people were like you." She nodded toward the hall that led to the bedrooms. "I'm callin' it a night. See ya tomorrow."

Jaci got settled into bed and then picked up her cellphone and hit the speed dial number for Vix. Her sister answered on the second ring.

"Before you yell at me, I just wanna say I'm sorry!" Vix gushed. "I was actually trying to do a good thing. I was putting the dishes AWAY…he just ignited my temper."

"Yeah, I noticed. You two are incendiary." Jaci deadpanned. "Bobby told me about the little mishap at Cara Cara. And while I wouldn't have trashed someone else's house over it…I can understand the anger."

"So…you forgive us?"

Jaci sighed. "I'll forgive you when you pay to replace my shit. Ya'll got to get a handle on that fighting at the drop of a hat stuff, Vix before it really messes you up."

Vix listened, knowing her sister was right and could honestly say that she had finally learned that lesson. She snorted a laugh a minute later. "Did you just essentially tell me to check myself before I wreck myself?"

"Yeah, I guess I did." Jaci replied with a small laugh. "Ok, ok…enough about that shit. I actually called for a reason, in addition to listening to you apologize. Like I said, Bobby told me what happened tonight…and he thinks Ima was the mastermind in all of it. So…how do you feel about a little R-E-V-E-N-G-E?"

"One of my favorite "R" words." Vix retorted with a smile in her voice. "Ranks right up there with R-E-S-P-E-C-T"

"I've got an idea to put a certain Porn Princess in her place."

"I'm all ears…hit me sister."

_**To be continued…**_

_And yes, we know this chapter was shorter than normal but yet again the chapter got HUGE on us so we split it into two. And we realize this was a Tig-less chapter, but never fear, he will be HEAVILY involved in the next one!_

**MUSIC SELECTIONS:**

Girl fight! By Brooke Valentine

.com/watch?v=JOAj4zAUZNE&feature=related

Let's Fight by Thompson Squared

.com/watch?v=zyystwcqQjA

Better than Revenge by Taylor Swift

.com/watch?v=TwO2CjNR2PE&feature=related

Cryin' By Aerosmith

.com/watch?v=7VmrR2vp_JQ&feature=related


	21. Chapter 18 Cold Service

**Walk Away from the Son****  
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SoA  
****Chapter 18- Cold Service**

**By BG and Reaper**

_Sorry for the delay in posting. We thought this chapter was done, then it wasn't, then it was. Doh, writing is hard! Haha! Hope you all enjoy, there is some meaningful stuff in here along with a bit of fun. And yes, we know we took a big liberty on a key timeline point concerning Abel, as always- just go with it, we promise it will be ok! As always, if you liked the chapter, show the love!_

_**Revenge is a dish best served cold…sometimes.**_

**XXX**

In the garage, Bobby finished telling the guys about the previous night's dish throwing extravaganza that went down at Parker Place. "And while I do not condone the breaking of perfectly good dinner ware…who here hasn't wanted to sling a pointy metal object at their old lady before?"

Clay shook his head and stared at Juice. "Three days ago I told you NOT TO LOSE HER AGAIN and now I hear you've STABBED HER?" 

Juice cocked his head and an odd questioning look graced his face. "But… um… didn't you throw a cinder block at Gemma's SUV and punch it a while back?"

"Yeah I did... AT HER CAGE, not at her!"

"Oh." Juice held his hands up in surrender and smiled. "Right."

Clay and Bobby gave up and headed to the back of the garage to look over a newly arrived batch of bike parts. Tig waited until their backs were turned before casually spinning on his heel and smacking Juice in the back of the head. "What'd I tell you about fighting with Vix? Huh?"

As Juice rubbed the back of his head, he defended himself verbally. "You told me keep my hands off her and to throw something if I had to and technically I did!" He frowned slightly, "I just didn't think it would actually hit her." Tig shook his head in frustration.

Juice got a glance of Nolan and yet another disapproving look from the sawed off Bama Son. "Don't give me that look, asshole. At least I didn't drop her on fuckin' pavement."

"Pavement?" Tig questioned and glanced at the two young bikers as they started to bow up toward each other. He looked across the parking lot to the row of bikes, it suddenly dawning on him that he had seen a nasty scuff on Nolan's tank. "What the fuck did you do?"

"Laid her over in Galt." Nolan answered without hesitation.

"With Vix on the back of it." Juice interjected and threw yet another hard glare at Nolan.

Tig looked from Nolan to Juice and back to Nolan. His mind couldn't help but auto jump back all the years to the time he had wrecked with a girl and the dire consequences. The next mental image was of Jaci and the reason he wouldn't let her anywhere near his bike. He shook his head hard. "You fuckin' idiots. Are you guys TRYING to kill her? Between you two, she'd be better off on a goddamn deserted island. What the fuck's wrong with you two?"

Juice looked at the ground as Tig seethed. He had to admit it was really fucked up to have Tig of all people questioning their sanity and motives. They were acting like morons. He let his mind wander back to the deserted island comment and visualized Vix in a bikini holding a coconut. A smile spread across his face as he mused, "Vix would kick ass on Survivor."

"Yep she would... my girl's the real survival type." Nolan quipped and saw Juice's face twitch. He realized they were being petty and had been since his arrival in Charming. "Um, well your girl... but I'll always've known her longer."

"I know her BETTER." Juice replied with a smirk.

Nolan sighed. "Got me there." He pointed at Juice. "She's something else. And that's the truth... in my mind Vix is a lady who just happens to spit, cuss, fight, and generally kick ass." Juice couldn't help but laugh and agree.

Tig stared at the two guys and rubbed his hands over his face. Combined, they had the attention span of a goddamn gnat, one minute fighting the next smiling. "All better? You two done with your goddamn Kumbaya moment? Get the fuck back to work."

XXX

Across town, Vix crossed her arms and stared at her sister. "You think two gallons of bleach will do it?"

Jaci nodded. "Did you get the other stuff?"

"Yep, snagged it from Lodi, paid cash...no connections." Vix answered with a grin.

"Perfect." Jaci was just about to cover the entire plan again when there was a knock at the salon door. They turned at stared at the building code inspector. "Ok, here we go."

They let the inspector inside and waited patiently as he toured the once again remodeled salon. As he scribbled a few more last notes in his file he asked, "When exactly did the remodel work complete?"

"Few days ago." Jaci answered politely.

Inspector Gadget shook his head and let sarcasm drip into his voice. "It is so amazing… there are places on this list that take _months _to reach the top ... and yet here THIS salon is MYSTERIOUSLY getting top billing once again."

Vix smiled sweetly. "Ain't the grease-able wheels of democracy great?"

"Apparently." He ripped the pink copy from his in triplicate inspection report, handed it to Vix, and walked out of the salon. She looked over the report, smiled and gave her sister a thumbs up. The salon was clear for take off…again.

XXX

By the next afternoon, the entire town was abuzz with theories of who had attempted to poison the porn princess, Ima, via some plot involving sinister shampoo. The general consensus was that it had to have been Vix Parker abetted by her notorious band of Outlaw woman. Afterall, who else, wagged the lively tongues Charming, had motive?

Jax sat on a stool in the Teller Morrow garage trying to clean grease from his cell phone with a rag. With the salon finished, the SAMCRO crew no longer had an excuse for not actually working at the garage. His phone rang in his hand and he cocked eyebrow before taking the call from Luann. He quickly pulled the phone away from his ear as Luann ranted at full excessive volume. "Whoa! Just calm down. What the hell happened?" Three minutes later he ended the call, shaking his head and half smiling.

Chibs raised his eyebrows. "Jackie Boy…what?"

Jax smirked, "That was Luann."

Bobby rolled his eyes. "What now?" He had been on lunch break from Cara Cara for two hours now. The break, besides eating, consisted of him coming to the garage to harass people that were doing actual labor.

"Seems someone broke into Ima's apartment, threw all her clothes in a pile and bleached them."

The guys started to laugh but Jax held up a hand. "Oh it gets better. Seems they put something in her soap and now Luann's lead money making actress is blue...from head to toe." The roar of laughter was deafening. "Luann's on a rant, having to stop production, what the hell's she gonna do with a smurf, yada yada."

Half Sack thought the odd situation over for a second. "She should use her...dye one of the guys blue and maybe try for some Avatar sorta thing."

"That's goddamn brilliant, Prospect. People would watch that shite." Chibs said while staring in awe of the kid. Half Sack smiled proudly.

Bobby sighed as his laughter came to an end, "Like I even need to ask this…suspects?"

Jax looked at Tig who glanced at the office. Tig smirked, "Public enemy one and two are talking to Gemma right now."

"Never piss off smart people." Bobby retorted.

Chibs nodded. "Or anyone with the last name Parker. Let's go get the story."

XXX

"I can't believe he's gonna be one already." Vix mused. "Time flies."

Jaci tapped her pen on the pad of paper in her hand. "Ok, theme…Abel seems obsessed with footballs and turtles right now."

"Footballs." Gemma answered decidedly.

"Ok…venue?" Jaci asked then lowered her voice. "I don't really think we should have it at Jax's place. I mean Donna…she died after his homecoming party there."

"Oh yeah, don't want any déjà vu-y feelings." Vix added.

Gemma nodded along. Donna was the last thing anyone needed to be thinking about. "Right…we can have it at our place. I've got plenty of time to clean before next weekend."

Before Jaci could offer to help with the setup, the door to the garage pushed open. "Hello, ladies!" Chibs announced brightly.

The guys all shoved in the doorway surrounding Jax. Gemma and the girls looked up, wondering why the crowd. Jax smiled, "There you two are. What'd you do to Ima?"

The girls looked at each other and then at glanced up at Jax innocently. Simultaneously they answered, "Nothing, why?"

"Someone broke into her place, doused all her clothes with bleach and put some shit in her shampoo bottle...dyed her whole damn body blue." Tig rattled off while staring at Jaci.

The Parkers stifled laughs. Jaci coughed into her hand and cleared her throat. "Wow, that's unfortunate."

Vix nodded. "And sneaky." Their words may have pled innocence but their eyes were twinkling.

_The plan had worked brilliantly. They had waited for the call from Rachel, letting them know that Ima was leaving the set and heading home for the night. The twenty minute clock started ticking. Vix easily popped the lock of the sliding glass back door to Ima's apartment. They rushed inside and poured the chemicals into the shower gel and shampoo bottles and then headed back outside to wait. Dressed in all black, they were nearly invisible standing on the small back patio. Ima finally waltzed through the front door, threw her purse and keys on the kitchen counter and pilfered in the fridge for a drink before heading to the back of the apartment. Like most people after a hard day at work, she headed for a shower. The girls waited a long tense moment then poked their heads back inside and heard the shower running. Then it was a mad but very quiet dash for the bedroom. After yanking all the clothes off the hangers in the closet and emptying drawers onto the floor, the girls unscrewed the cap to the bottles of bleach and sanitized Ima's clothes in a very aggressive manner. Just as they were finishing up they heard Ima let out a shriek. They grinned at each other, pulled their hoods back over their heads and hustled out of the apartment._

Bobby played along with the ruse. "Well _whoever_ did it...I give them props for creativity. I woulda thought Ima just had an ass kicking coming her way but THIS is so much better."

"I'm sure the perpetrators appreciate your admiration...you know, _theoretically_." Jaci smiled. "And I totally agree that this scenario is so much more effective than just beating her ass. This way she's stripped of her vanity and her bank account."

Gemma raised an eyebrow. "How's Luann working with the Smurf?"

Jax snorted, "She's not. The dye has to WEAR off so Ima's on the sidelines until further notice."

"Awwww, that's too bad." Vix said with fake sympathy.

"Well...if it was you two, that's IT. Everybody's even, got it?" Jax pointed at the girls.

Girls just shrugged as if to say _sure- whatever_, acting like the warning didn't pertain to them since they were innocent and all. Jax walked out of the office along with the other guys. Gemma waited until the door shut before giving them a smirk and then a full proud smile. "Clever…very clever."

Vix unbuttoned her pull over shirt to reveal the a baby-tee depicting Papa Smurf with the words WHO'S YOUR PAPA? Gemma saw it and shook her head, laughing. Vix sighed, "Man, I got no clue what he's talking about." But that statement was a little derailed as her and Jaci exchanged a fist pound and smile. The group of women finished up the plans for Abel upcoming birthday party and Vix headed into the garage to wait for Juice who was out on a call.

Jaci exited the office and walked toward the parking lot but threw a glance toward the garage. Tig up-nodded at her and headed in her direction. He walked her to her car and held his tongue until her door was opened. "So... how'd you do it?"

"Ima's probably pissed a lot of people off, not just us, Tig." Jaci replied in a coy voice. She cocked her head and faked concentration. "Mmm, how's that line from Top Gun go? Her mouth is writing checks her ass can't cash? Looks like shit just caught up to her." She gave an innocent shrug and smiled.

He rolled his eyes and snorted a laugh. "Cut the shit. This wasn't YOUR beef, why were you in on it?"

Jaci sighed and shook her head in disagreement. "Ima started shit with Tara and Vix both. She had been warned to quit and didn't. How many times do you let someone thumb their nose at you? Something had to be done." Tig gave her a blank stare. "Ok, ok…she was running her mouth about me too. Hinting around that me and Bobby had something going. How fucked up is that? That shit can't happen...rumors like that can't be getting around. I mean...if you and me are together again that's trying to cause trouble and I'm not having it."

Tig smiled, "I think I would have KNOWN you weren't fuckin' Bobby. And everybody knows that girl is full of shit."

"What if she'd picked someone else to lie about?" Jaci replied. She took a huge risk and voiced part of the reason she had reacted so strongly to Ima's implications. "What if she had picked someone more believable? Not everyone in this town knows she's full of it. Hell what if someone from another charter had heard it? Then I look like a slut and you look like a fool. Look at all the trouble Juice and Vix have been through...all it takes is a shred of doubt and a rumor." Jaci's brow furrowed. _All it takes is her implying I fucked Chibs and a major shit storm could brew._

She seemed a bit jumpy, a bit too mad. Tig frowned. "What're you so worried about?"

Jaci knew she had said too much and waved him off. "Nothing. It's just...you and I have enough issues without some idiot starting shit." She gave a shrug, "I guess I'm just trying to protect us you know?"

Tig nodded. "I get it." He glanced toward the garage and then kissed her quickly. He pushed her into the driver side seat and looked down at her. "Put the chemistry set away…I'll see ya tonight."

**XXX**

_Later that afternoon…_

"At the risk of sounding like a complete grammatical moron... _Ya done good with this, Rachel_." Vix said with a laugh as she slid the bound copy of her friend's term paper across the bar towards her.

"Dare i ask how _yours_ is going?" Rachel eyed her, knowing full well the answer.

"It's NOT. I tried to work on it but I'm stuck on the Drama Carousel. And I just... they couldn't give me _Sociopath _ or _Psychopath _could they? I personally know a few of those, could write 20 pages on THAT no problem. But nooooo, I get _Episodic Depression Compounded by Anxiety Disorder and Sublimated Acrophobia._ I don't even know what the hell I just said."

"Means they're depressed, wants to kill themselves and are scared of heights." Advised a familiar voice.

Vix spun around on the bar stool and smirked. "Do I even want to know how you happen to know ..."

Hap chuckled "Nope." He settled down on the stool next to Vix. "Heard your old man stabbed ya."

Vix rolled her eyes. "News travels fast, man. And they say chicks like to gossip." She gave him a questioning look. "Are you following me or is running into you here at _Big Daddy __Study Hall_ a crazy, random, happenstance?"

"Not here cause of you." Hap replied. "I'm waiting on somebody."

He didn't care to elaborate but Vix grinned and would have laid money on the guess that his waiting had something to do with a certain girl he had met at the bar during one very recent, wild night.

**XXX **

_Early that evening…_

"So...you out of condoms or something?"

"What?" Half Sack's head whipped around at the sound of the woman's voice. His eyes found Jaci standing behind him, smiling. "Oh, hey, J. I'm...I gotta pick up a prescription. All out of samples for the antibiotic...you know…for my…" He pointed down past his beltline.

Jaci grinned at the sight of the Prospect blushing. She nodded along. "I love how they give you free shit, get you all lined out and then drop the bomb on you later. Pills are ridiculously expensive."

"Yeah...I got the Army insurance so it isn't too bad."

"Well, maybe we should get married and you can pay for all my shit."

Half Sack grinned. They made small talk while they waited for the pharmacist to call their names and after wards he walked her to her car. She was headed home for the night to wrangle up some dinner for the guys after they finished working at the garage. She swore the guys were so tired after busting their ass all day working that they would file into the house and just mumble, "Beer...food...shower." She thought of them as her little Bama Zombies. She loved them to death, and ignored the fact that her water and food bills were tripling this month.

Half Sack waved to her as she pulled out of the parking lot. A movement to his left caught his eye and he turned to see Jenkins eyeing Jaci's Mustang as it pulled onto the street. The prospect frowned as he watched Jenks get into his red truck and take off in the same direction. Something felt wrong...and oddly familiar. He tried to think what that little SOMETHING was that was playing just at the fringes of his memory. Then it hit him...the truck. He had seen it before, two days prior on Jaci's street.

"Shit!" HS muttered and fired up his bike. He hurried to catch up to Jenks and see what the scumbag was up to.

XXX

At 5:53pm, Juice started to unbutton his TM work shirt, opting to ride home wearing his thermal and cut. One minute later, before he could even start walking toward his bike, the tow line phone rang in the garage. Tig delayed firing up the welding torch in his hand long enough to yell, "That's YOU, Retard!"

Juice groaned and grabbed the phone, his work shirt hanging half unbuttoned. He scribbled down the details of the job and ripped the sheet of paper off the grimy pad as he ended the call. He looked over at Tig, Trace, Motor and TNT, the only guys left at the garage. "This is way the fuck in the middle of nowhere. It'll take me over an hour!"

"You want some cheese with that whine?" Trace asked with a smile.

TNT watched Juice shake his head in frustration and grab the keys for the tow truck. He had been meaning to talk to Vix's man but just hadn't found the right time, but tonight seemed to be the perfect moment. He'd have Juice as a captive audience for a good long while. He slid off the work stool he was sitting on and gave a nod in Juice's direction. "How bout some company?"

"You wanna go?" Juice asked. He had been sorta shy around TNT up to this point but would rather have somebody to talk to than a long drive of silence ahead of him. The old biker nodded and Juice shrugged. "Ok then...sure...let's go." The pair walked to the tow truck and loaded up.

Trace and Motor shared an amused look as they watched the truck roll out of the TM lot. Trace chuckled thinking of Juice nervously chatting TNT's ear off and of all the straight forward hell TNT could give the kid. "I don't know who's gonna regret that drive more...Juice or Travis."

_**XXX**_

Thirty minutes later...

"Phone!" Trace yelled as the guys worked on the huge section of metal that would be Vix's new salon sign. It was the only piece of the salon not finished.

"WHAT?" Tig yelled in return over the loud noise of banging hammers and the loud buzz of a metal grinder.

"I can see your phone ringing!" Trace yelled and pointed towards Tig's pocket that was glowing from his cell phone.

Tig looked down, saw the glow and smiled. "Oh." He walked a few steps away, pulled the phone from his pocket and rolled his eyes. "Goddamnn Prospect." Trace snorted.

"What!" Tig yelled into the phone with a finger pressed in his other ear.

"Tig?"

"Yeah...what do you want?"

"I think we have a problem."

"WHAT?"

Half Sack started to yell back in return but hesitated. He was currently sitting on his bike, a block from Jaci's place. Jenks had parked about five houses from her place. The Prospect looked around and didn't see any people out and about so he felt safe to raise his voice. "I said, I think we have a problem! You said to tell you if anything concerned Jaci...so... I'm calling."

Tig grimaced and walked into the garage office so he could hear. He walked back into the main garage three minutes later. He yanked the power cord from the outlet on the grinder that Motor had been using causing the Bama SAA to look up in annoyance. Tig eyed the guys. "We got a problem. Prospect just called...he's sitting down the street from Jaci's place. Turns out she's been having a Nord escort for the last couple days and didn't know it." He watched as Motor's eyes narrowed. "It's Jenkins...I believe we re-arranged his leg a while back." Motor dropped the tool he was using to the floor and stood up.

"Darby's guys?" Motor questioned. "They're hanging around this Weston guy now right?"

Tig nodded. "They probably helped with the salon firebomb."

Trace hefted the hammer in his hand. "Didn't ya'll put a SAMCRO restraining order on those guys...after that hospital bullshit?"

"Sure did." Tig replied.

"Think it needs some re-enforcin'." Motor growled.

"Fuckin' A." Tig replied and twisted the valves on the welding cylinders to OFF. They pulled the garage bay doors shut, locked up and headed for the parking lot.

**XXX **

Juice kept the conversation flowing as he drove the tow truck North along the highway. "I keep fuckin' up with Vix though. This last time was pure stupidity. Well MOST of it is all stupid. Misunderstanding bullshit. I just don't know how many IOU's and please forgive me's Vix has in her."

TNT chuckled as Juice shook his head. "Ya want to know what she said when I apologized this last time?" He laughed remembering her face as she said it. "She said she prayed for the Lord to give her his choice of unlimited patience and understanding OR a loaded shotgun."

TNT turned towards the window to hide his smile.

"I love Vix, she deserves the best of me, which honesty isn't saying a whole lot. Geez, I don't even know what the hell I'm spewing out here... sorry."

The cab of the truck went silence for a mile then TNT spoke. "I couldn't love that girl more if she were my flesh n blood. And I've never seen her this tangled up. Vix loves you more than I think even she knows how to deal with. Became down right venomous in her protection and defense when I asked bout your head tattoos."

Juice let out a nervous chuckle and rubbed his hand over his head. "Uh...what'd she tell you."

"That they're deeply symbolic of something and if I want to know more I should ask you my damn self."

"She said you might want to talk to me about something important. Have you made up your mind if you are or aren't cause honestly I've been having heart palpations every time I see you coming for the last two days."

"Tell it or not, it's up to you... I'm not one for airing my personal shit so I get it. But both those girls mean the world to me and meetin' you... something has changed in Vix. I'm of the mind that she's found something in you that she ain't found any place else and that may or may not be a good thing." TNT ventured a look over at the young man. "A tropical depression need only find certain elements to turn into a Hurricane."

Juice glanced nervously over at TNT and sucked in a deep breath. Only two people had ever asked REALLY asked about his head ink, most just eyed it and shook their head. Gemma'd been the first to ask. When he'd told her the story she'd sat and listened to the whole tale without a word. When he'd finished she'd nodded and quietly dismissed him; to this day he wasn't sure her real reaction. Vix, she'd been the opposite. She'd asked at least 50 questions and at the end had shook her head and announced if there was ever a story that would get him laid... that was it. Then she disappeared into his bathroom and when she came out her eyes were a bit puffy, she sniffled and then smiled and proceeded to do just that. Juice sighed "You got a few hours to hear this?"

TNT shrugged. "That answer is far from up to me. I got as long as the Good Lord feels willing to grant me."

Juice raised an eyebrow and shook his head. He was still a novice at this southern-speak thing but it seemed honest enough. He stared down the highway, finding it easier to tell the story without making eye contact, driving gave him an excellent excuse to have his eyes elsewhere. "In their simplest form they're a memorial. In their most complex, they're a reminder. The memorial is to my mom, she was killed when I was nine ... by my old man, in cold blood, in our kitchen, while I sat at the table watching. I didn't do anything, I couldn't react I was frozen. It didn't seem to be happening, like I was watching some show on TV or something. I still get repulsed by the smell of oatmeal."

A long moment passed and Juice let the initial shock of the story set in. "My mom was a free spirit sort and a wannabe hippie. She loved rain storms. Everyone's always so startled by the thunder but she'd laugh and say stupid fools it's the lightening that's the most dangerous. The thunder is loud, it rattles the roof and lets everybody know it's around but that is all it can do. The lightening, it's beautiful, it's quick, it's silent and it's deadly. No one appreciates the lightening; they're too distracted by the noise or bogged down by the rain coming down. She'd always tell me to remember that the real damage comes from what we fail to notice until it's too late." Juice cleared his throat and glanced over at the man. He found TNT's face an emotionless mask but he knew the older man was listening.

Juice stared down the road for a moment. In a darker voice than the heavy hearted one that had accompanied the story about his mom, he continued. "He got LIFE but he's been up for parole every four since serving ten, so three times now. And each time my Gram has had to relive that nightmare when she goes to testify about why he shouldn't be released. All three times he's been turned down, obviously cause he's still in lock up, but eventually the board is gonna grant it. The pleas of the family won't matter. I love my Grandmother and I want her around for a long time but I pray to any god that'll listen that she be dead and at peace in Heaven when that day comes."

"I told Gemma I love this club and I told Vix I love this club and I love her and because of that love I will push ALL of that aside THAT DAY. I'll keep what I HAVE to do from blowing back on what I love but I WILL settle the score. Maybe he knows it, maybe he doesn't but he won't ever see it coming."

Juice got silent and TNT took that for the end of his tale. It was his turn to clear his throat. "The damage comes from what you don't see coming." He mused and nodded. "Lightening." He sighed and nodded again. "I reckon that's deeper than a road side rut."

"Excuse me?" Juice blinked at the man.

TNT smiled just slightly but coming from that man it was practically a Shout Out. "Nothin', very moving story. I respect the ink now."

"I wasn't done." Juice said quietly.

TNT eyed him. "You sure?"

Juice nodded quick and kept eye contact since they were on a straight stretch. "Two words: Keith Whitley."

TNT eyed the kid, astonished. "Attention gotten... and tread lightly, I'm a fan."

Juice chuckled and turned his attention back to the road. "I know... Vix told me that would get your attention. I never knew who sang the song, Vix was the one who told me who it was. I was 27 the last time the parole board met. I'd spent 14 years in this town, living with my grandparents. Gramps had just died, I wasn't real sure that Gram wasn't gonna toss in the towel and go with him. They'd been together since The Flood she'd always joked. She even told me once that if she didn't have me to worry on constantly and to see to that I made my way, she'd have probably done just that. I knew about the club, hard not to living in this town. I was a handful to say the least but I towed some sorta line to spare my Gram too much worry. But when Gramps died I really sorta lost it, dove deep into some bad shit. I was over in Pope and got into a real bad situation...luckily Jax ended up in the same place, saved

my ass for sure."

"We ended up arrested and when Gram came to bail me out she was totally tearing me a new one right in front of the guys in the Pope PD parking lot. Jax stopped me as I was leaving. He smirked and told me that if I survived the car ride home to stop by TM and talk to him. Said they might be lookin' for some help around the place. I don't know what made me take him up on it but I did. Good thing too cause just after that Opie got locked up for 5 years. But Jax got Clay to give me a test run workin' at the garage; gofer - grunt - tow driver, but it was something. I started hanging out after work. I'd ridden before but I decided to put my inheritance from my Gramps into a Harley and from hang around to prospect to patched. Long, slow progression but one I needed to make and am thankful every day that Jax saw something in me that would benefit the club."

The kid stopped talking and TNT eyed him. "Interesting as that story was, son...how the hell do you get Keith Whitley out of it?"

Juice grinned. "I was getting to that."

"Were you now?"

"Yep." Juice nodded. "Like I said I was 27 when the last parole board met, a year before I met Vix, year after I earned my top rocker. The night the NO vote came in I celebrated or repressed such as it

was a bit too much. Heard his song _I'm no stranger to the rain_ and the words kept running through my head like the sound track of my life. It brought back memories of my mom and her rain storms, the literal and figurative RAIN in my life. I have been no stranger to it, I've fought with devils outward and the ones inside and sometimes they would knock me down but I'd get back up, never gave in. And that line about through it all I've withstood the pain. It rang some loud bells and I know all about getting depressed or foggy as he sings it. And when he sang that line 'if I don't keep my head I may drown' that was when I came up with the bolt idea. I'm a friend of thunder...man is it any wonder lightening strikes me. These bolts remind me to keep my head and I really try. Sometimes it works and sometimes it don't but I know if i don't even try, I don't stand a chance. That's hard to remember sometimes with all the rain and shit that keeps pouring down so..." He tapped the side of his head. "...a little visual reminder never hurts."

Juice finished speaking just has he brought the tow truck to a stop at their destination. He looked over at the man riding shotgun, the man looked stunned... well sorta, it was hard to tell with the beard and

the fact that from one emotion to another his expression didn't change too much..

"You done now?"

"Yeah." Juice answered with a laugh and a nod.

"That's some story, son. It'll earn respect. You've got mine. My condolences bout your mama and your granddaddy. One word of advice, I ain't too keen on getting it or givin' it, but when THAT DAY comes, don't go pushin' those closest to you too far away. If they love you, they'll want to see you set to right, they'll understand and they'll support you in whatever you're needin'to do." TNT opened the passenger side door. "One last thing...BB Parker, he's a fan of Keith Whitley too. I am sure he'd love to hear that tale one day."

XXX

The Sons parked even further down the street from Jaci's house and waited for Half Sack to limp up the street to them. Thankfully all their cuts were at the clubhouse, not much need to wear them since they were either working at TM or the salon 24/7. They got a report from Half Sack on Jenk's location and worked out a quick plan.

Jenks was horrible at surveillance which was good for the Sons but bad for the Nord. He was 100% focused on staring at Jaci's house and never saw Motor creeping up along side his truck. Motor crouched down next to the driver side and waited a half second before yanking the door open. He shoved a gun in Jenks' face before the man had a chance to even move. "Remember me, motherfucker?" Motor hissed. "Scoot the fuck over."

Jenks threw his hands up and slid to the middle of the bench seat as Motor climbed into the driver seat of the truck. A second later, Trace opened the passenger side door and climbed inside. Jenks knew he was in deep shit and decided to try and bail but he didn't get very far. As soon as he made a move, Trace slammed his left elbow into the side of the guy's head and then slammed his face into the dashboard. Jenks slumped in the seat and Trace snorted a laugh, "Take a nap, bud. I'll wake ya when we get there."

Tig pulled past their truck and they followed the black Ford out of Jaci's neighborhood and then out of town. Half Sack continued down the street to complete his assigned duty.

Jaci heard the bike and walked to the front door. She opened it and stuck her head outside expecting to see the guys pulling in her driveway but she saw only Half Sack. She frowned but waved. He nodded at her. "Guys are gonna be a bit late for dinner. Actually, I wouldn't even wait up."

She nodded, totally used to something coming up with the guys but Half Sack seemed a bit off, on edge. "You ok?"

"What? Me? Yeah, I'm fine." Half Sack assured and looked down the street.

Jaci sighed. "Well...you wanna come in and eat? Watch TV?"

"Sure." Half Sack replied, happy that he didn't have to weasel his way into her house to perform his babysitting duties Tig had assigned.

XXX

_I want to take his eyes out just for looking at you, yes I do  
I want to take his hands off just for touching you, yes I do  
And I want to rip his heart out just for hurting you_

Tig drove north out of town, heading for the old cabin site. Now all burnt and mostly fallen down, he knew it would be quiet and secluded there. It was where he and Jaci had started their little journey and now here he was defending her in the same place...the irony was not lost on him.

As he steered the truck down the bumpy road following Tig, Motor mused, "Ah dirt roads...feels like home."

Trace let out a low whistle as they came to a stop and he hauled Jenks out of the truck. "Middle of nowhere...nice. No one gonna hear ya scream out here, buddy."

Tig walked over, grabbed a hold of Jenks and half dragged, half walked him several feet away but still in the beam of the Ford's headlights then promptly kicked the feet out from under his captive. "Have a seat, asshole." He motioned to Motor, "Tie em up."

As Motor grabbed some rope from their work truck, Tig pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket and walked a ways from the group of men. He dialed Clay on his prepaid and quickly explained the situation, at the end asking, "What do you want me to do?"

In his living room back in Charming, Clay stood holding the phone, stunned at the night's turn of events. He shook his head and hissed, "If that prick had been stalking say...I dunno, ANYONE BUT JACI PARKER... how quick would you have been to kidnap and torture?"

Tig gritted his teeth. "This isn't personal."

"Don't fool yourself and more importantly DON'T FOOL THIS CLUB." Clay spat.

"Fine...you're right, Clay... it _is_ personal." Tig hissed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "But I'd do the same motherfuckin' thing if that fucker was stalkin' Gemma, Vix, Luann, Tara... ANYONE a part of or associated with this club." He paced while he seethed. "This fuckhead's no longer workin' for Darby... he's in bed with Zobell and Weston and all of 'em. This HAS to be done. They're making moves, Clay. BIG goddamn moves. They're watching her...half the club has been in out of her house lately that means they're keepin' tabs on us too."

Clay knew his SAA was right. He paced into the kitchen and drummed his fingers on the counter top. They needed something to make Zobell rethink his current Charming take over strategy, but subtlety was key right now. Maybe taking out a low level like Jenks so easily would send a message. "Then do it...but you keep it off our welcome mat, you hear me? I want the option of deniablity." 

"Absolutely." Tig retorted and ended the call. He slid the phone back in his pocket and made a beeline for the men and their captive. He smiled as he neared the group, "Green light."

Motor had tied Jenks' hands tightly behind him. Tig covered the distance to the man and punched the guy in the face without any pretense. "You payin attention?"

Jenks grunted then nodded while answering breathlessly. "Yes!"

Tig hit him again, "Louder Jenks, I can't hear you!"

"I'm paying attention! Shit!" Jenks screamed.

"Good...cause you know me…" Tig said and then pointed to Motor, "And I know you remember him and you know we aren't fuckin' around. You better answer every fuckin' question I have or it's gonna get really fuckin painful for you real fuckin quick, got me?"

Jenks nodded profusely. Tig stood in front of the obviously terrified man and asked his first question. "Are you high on your own home cooking, Jenkins?" He tossed a look to his Bama brothers and added, "Crystal meth." by way of explanation. He turned his cold stare back at the skinhead fuck before him "What the fuck part of _Stay the fuck away from the Parkers_ doesn't fuckin' sink into your fuckin' Nazi head?"

"Managed to squeeze the F-Word four times into one sentence." Trace mused. "I reckon he's a bit pissed, Mr. Jenkins."

"What're you doing outside her house?"

"Who's hous..." Before Jenks could finish his question Motor punched him in the face.

Tig let out a laugh, "Thanks brother, you read my mind." Tig held a finger in Jenks face, "Don't play fuckin' stupid with me. Answer me."

"I was...I was just watchin'...her...and you guys. I wasn't going to hurt her, I swear I wasn't."

Tig made a tsking sound, "You threw her down a flight of stairs before, pretty sure you had a hand in torching her business...sorry if I think you're full of shit."

"That wasn't just ME! Why are you doing this to just ME?" Jenks questioned in a panic. He had been terrified since the second the damn mountain man looking fucker had opened his truck door on the Parker bitch's street. He had seen that familiar face and knew he was in deep shit.

"Cause you're the dumb motherfucker that got caught." Trace growled from his perch, leaning against the hood of the truck. "Everybody's got a purpose for takin' up space on God's good Earth. And it appears yours is to be an EXAMPLE of what NOT TO DO and who NOT TO DO IT TO."

Tig tossed more questions at Jenks, who had decided he had already said too much and began a strategy of stonewalling.

"Tight lipped now are you?" Motor asked the captive. "Guess we'll just have to charm the truth outta ya." Each non-answer was meant with a punishment; Tig and Motor took turns hitting Jenks until his face was hamburger.

"Come on, Jenks...you're making this so much harder than it has to be." Tig chided. "Just ANSWER the question and this all stops."

"I ain't saying shit!" Jenks yelled.

Tig was beginning to lose patience. He pulled his knife and walked behind Jenks, the guy jerked his head around, trying desperately to see what the SAMCRO SAA was doing. A second later, Tig rammed the blade through Jenks' calf muscle. The guy screamed at the top of his lungs then whimpered as Tig pulled the knife free and tapped his Achilles.

"You want to keep these feet in working order, you'll start talking." Tig said quietly.

Jenks came to the harsh realization that the Sons had no intention of letting him go and even if they did, he was still a dead man. Weston would have his ass for getting caught. Now he had a decision to make, go out like a coward or like a man? Did he rat on his crew or save face and stonewall?

"I'm done...not telling you anything." Jenkins said while staring down on the ground, accepting his fate.

Tig noticed the shut down and cocked his head. "Oh don't go getting all noble warrior on me, Jenks. Little too late for name, rank and serial number."

"You're not letting me go...we both know that." Jenks said quietly, blood pouring down his face from being hit so many times. He spit a wad blood out onto the ground.

"We could...let ya wander back a beaten limpin' mess again." Motor retorted, teasing.

"But if you wanna curl up and die...I'm guessin' we can oblige ya." Trace mused. "Either way an example's gettin' made out of you, boy."

"Fuckin' A." Tig seethed. He gave Motor a look that told him how this night was going to end; Jenks wasn't limping away to anywhere.

Motor looked Jenks over and then looked to Tig. "Well, brother...more than one way to skin a cat...which way we usin'?"

"I'm done fuckin with you, Jenks." Tig warned and held his bloody knife in front of Jenks. He thought of Jaci, safe and sound in her house, while this asshole had been lying in wait for her the whole time. His jaw clenched as his protectiveness amped up. "And I'm done having your beady spying eyes on HER, on ME, on my BROTHERS."

Jenks was weak and could barely hold his head up but managed to let out a grunt of panic at seeing the knife again. He started to squirm.

"Hold him." Tig instructed quietly. Motor grabbed Jenks from behind, put his knee in the man's back and slammed a palm on the man's head, holding him immobile.

"FUCK YOU." Tig seethed and rammed the point of his knife into Jenks' left eye. There is a loud wet sound when the blade popped the eyeball but somehow the blade missed the brain, leaving Jenks alive and screaming. Motor struggled to hold the bleeding man still as Tig repeated his vicious stabbing, this time to the right eye. This time around he must have nicked something important because Jenks stopped screaming and could only moan and twitch. Motor let the man slump to the ground and stood over him with Tig at his side.

"He's still kickin'." Motor pointed out without any emotion.

Tig held his knife up toward Jaci's cousin."You said you wanted in if it ever came to this. You drove half way cross the country...you do the honors."

Motor took the knife and kicked Jenks flat on his back. "Night, night, motherfucker." He dropped to his knees and slid the blade of the knife between a few ribs and straight into the heart. It was a quiet, intimate move. Those over the top, hacking, stabbing gestures were for the movies and for show, Motor knew anatomy from years of skinning deer, you had to slip the ribs just right to nick the heart.

Trace finally looked over to his brothers, who stood over the still dead body. Once he knew how Tig was going to finish Jenks, he had stared at the hood of the truck. He had plenty of horrible images in his head from over the years, he didn't need anymore. He was a tough guy but this brutal shit was out of his league. Poking a dude's eyes out, that's what guys like Tig and Motor were for.

"Well, now what?" Trace asked. "Back home, we'd chop him up and dump in a few different hollers out in the middle of bumfucknowhere. We need a pig farm." Tig frowned but Trace smiled. "That shit works...'specially if you shave the body and pull the teeth first."

"Fuck that." Tig spat and raised his eyebrows in thought. "Well...we can burn him, bury him, chop and toss him...I know where a wood chipper is. Got a connection at the crematorium too. Hell we could put him in a bait box and drop him in the damn ocean, let the fish have him but that would take a few hours to pull together."

Trace listened to the suggestions with unease. To him Tig sounded strangely like Bubba Gump rattling off different ways to cook shrimp.

Motor wiped his hands on his jeans and rubbed his chin against his shoulder. "What we need is a couple buckets of Lye and a shovel. Bury this fucker and let that shit eat him up."

Tig snorted a laugh. "Holy shit, bro...we actually have some of that at the goddamn clubhouse, well the garage anyway."

"What the hell for?" Trace asked.

"Bobby started some bullshit soap making hobby thing but he quit when he kept getting lye burns." Tig answered with a smirk. "But I know what WE'RE using it for." He nodded at the body. "Who's staying with the dead guy while I go get it?"

Motor raised a hand and then proceeded to fish his cigarettes out of his pocket. "I got him. Ya'll go on."

Tig and Trace loaded up in Trace's truck and started to back down the driveway. Motor stared down at Jenkins. He took a drag off his cigarette and grimaced. ""Don't look at me you stupid Nazi fuck. That's what you get for messing round where ya ought not."

_**XXX**_

Inside the cab of the truck, it was a tale of two personalities. Tig felt fine, good even...he had just avenged a whole list of shit by taking out Jenks. Trace was feeling a bit disturbed by the whole incident, especially by Tig and his ease with the situation. Trace would have just shot the Nazi bastard, would have never dreamed to cut the guy's eyes out.

Trace pulled onto the dirt road and ventured a glance at Tig. This was the man Jaci had decided to be with and it disturbed the hell out of him. He was a bit protective over Jaci. Dean was his nephew, but he felt more like a father to him, so he had been more than excited when there had been a shot at Jaci becoming his quasi daughter in law and he still harbor guilt about what happened with that whole situation. He wanted Jaci safe and happy and that was looking to be a stretch here in Charming. It was time to test some waters. "You gonna tell J about this?"

Tig snapped a look at Trace, "Why the fuck would I do that?"

"Some guys tell their old ladies everything. This sorta concerns her...guy was watching her, had hurt her before."

"She ain't my old lady."

"Then what is she?"

Tig frowned at him and shrugged, waving his hand around. "I don't know. She...just ...IS. We don't put labels on shit." He stared down the road for a mile or so, annoyed but finally continued, "Besides, what we've got...its sorta fragile right now. Hell, JACI is fragile right now. I ain't doing shit to upset her. Think of me as a giant goddamn buffer...nothing GETS at her right now if I can help it. I stop all threats and bullshit."

"I see that." Trace answered with a nod. He let a few hundred yards tick by. "So what's different?" Tig shrugged not sure what he's asking and Trace clarified, "Ya'll broke up...now you're back together. What changed?" He noticed Tig's look of defiance and explained. "Just askin' cause I don't do repeats. I flit from woman to woman...six months here, a year there but I don't ever go back to the same one. Not sayin' its SMART or RIGHT...but the way I figure it, there was a reason bad enough that I left so why go back to something that's broke. Whadda they say about the definition of crazy? Somethin' bout repeatin' the same thing and expectin' a different outcome."

Trace wasn't a bad guy...he never promised any of his women the world. He'd tell them he's just out for fun and they'd nod along, yeah me too...but it always changed, some girls just took longer to flip on him. Soon enough, they'd try to CHANGE him, nail him down, want to FIX him and he wasn't having it. He'd never found a woman that he cared about enough to settle down for and couldn't imagine someone like Tig being able to be domesticated either.

"I'm the one that LEFT...she had to be the one to take me BACK. So who's the crazy one?" Tig asked with amusement.

It was Trace's turn to frown. He shrugged. "She's not perfect...the heart makes the mind do stupid shit sometimes."

"Well, just so you can sleep at night and not worry..." Tig said with deep sarcasm. "Things aren't the SAME this time around."

"Oh really...care to enlighten me?"

"Nope." Tig answered curtly. In his mind the conversation with Trace was over, it had gone from concerned to prying. He wasn't going to get into some deep discussion about his shit with Jaci, concerned relative or not. It wasn't anyone's business but his and Jaci's. They were back on track, end of story. He was done thinking about it and defending it, people were just going to have to deal with it.

_**XXX**_

It was a LONG night. They had snagged the lye from the clubhouse and drove all the way back to the woods. After taking turns with the hard labor, the grave had been dug and Jenks had been tossed in and covered with lye. The moisture from the dirt would have the chemical working its magic in no time. Once more they headed back to Charming. Tig had donned gloves and drove Jenkin's truck to its rightful house. It was a risky move but necessary to confuse the situation. With the truck parked in his driveway, it would take a few days for anyone to realize Jenkins wasn't around anymore. By the time the LOAN group figured out Jenkins had been taken out, the exact execution would be a mystery. If he had been watching the Parker house, how did his truck make it home? Who had taken him? Where was he now? They would be left with endless questions and the Sons would just smile smugly.

After heading to Tig's house to clean up, the Bama crew was set to leave and head back to Jaci's house for what was left of the night. Trace fired up the truck as Motor stepped out of the backdoor to the house. He turned to say something and noticed a look in Tig's eye, he wanted to go with them. Motor nodded toward the truck. "Come on...you know you wanna. Hell brother you EARNED a night with her. Trace ain't gonna give ya any shit for it. TNT's already passed out, won't even know you're there. Who really gives a shit anymore anyway?"

Tig rolled his eyes and started to protest but Motor reach out and grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him outside.

_**XXX**_

They arrived at Parker Place and quietly trudged inside. The house was quiet. Half Sack had faked drunk off a few beers and slept on the couch but woke up as the guys came in. He scratched his bedhead hair and looked at Tig questioningly.

Tig nodded, "It's done." The Prospect nodded and made a motion to get up and leave but Tig waved him off. "Go back to sleep, kid. You did good tonight."

Motor and Trace headed to Vix's old room. Motor was content to sleep on the floor instead of his usual perch on the couch, overall too tired to care.

Tig walked to Jaci's door and knocked softly. He didn't want to wake up her but didn't want to scare the shit out of her either by just walking in her room. He opened the door and saw her sitting up in the bed. He whispered as he walked inside, "Hey...it's me."

"Tig? What's going on?" She looked at the bedside clock, 3am. "What's wrong?" She flipped on the lamp.

He walked to the other side of the bed. "Nothing's wrong...everything's ok." He shucked his clothes down to his boxers and crawled in bed. Jaci was completely stunned, knew _something_ had to be up for him to be pulling a stunt like this. "Turn the light off...go back to sleep. I'm staying here tonight."

His voice was soft but firm so she complied and laid back down. In the darkness, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against him. He silently intertwined his fingers with hers and they laid there without talking for a long time. Their minds were busy though, Tig replaying what he had done that night to protect her, Jaci wondering what he had done to warrant his need to hold her at 3am. She wanted to ask a million questions but kept quiet, knowing he would tell her want he wanted her to know and that would have to suffice.

Soon enough his right hand was caressing her arm then her upper leg. He closed his eyes and felt the soft warm skin he had fought to protect. She felt him breathing a bit harder as he kissed her bare shoulder not covered by her tank top.

She smiled and whispered, "Oh I see why you stopped by."

"No..." He replied but his actions didn't mesh with his words. He rolled her onto her back and moved on top of her. He kissed her slowly. The reality of the night was starting to hit him. He had taken huge risks for _her_. He had killed for her, put his club at risk for her, to make sure she was safe. Sure he had been protecting his brothers too but his first urge had been her safety. He needed her to be ok, hell he flat out _needed _her and he hated that feeling. It made him vulnerable and he loathed weakness but look where he was now...with her.

And now is when things got complicated and twisted. Emotional releases were hard for Tig, a normal guy would have just held her and went to sleep, happy with the fact that everyone was safe and sound. But Tig would never be accused of normal. Those violent feelings from earlier, the protectiveness, the worry he had for her all got meshed together and pushed into the need for a release. Feeling mad? Go fuck somebody. Sad? Go fuck somebody. Guilty? Go fuck somebody. Happy? Go fuck somebody.

Tig shook his head at his predictability. He wanted to fuck somebody, he needed it...but at least this time, he was going to the right person. _Small victory, right? _He kissed her and felt himself get more turned on. "I...need this. Can't explain it...you can't ask me."

He kissed her again and she closed her eyes. He was being so tender but there was an urgency, a desperation to his voice and his movements. It was scary and exciting at the same time. Something had happened, something bad...but he came to HER, needed HER and that was what mattered at the moment.

"Ok." She breathed and decided not to push him for answers. "Ok."

As soon as the words of submission left her lips, he wanted inside of her as quickly as possible. He didn't bother stripping her naked. He pulled his boxers down slightly and pushed her panties to the side, kissing her more urgently as he pushed inside her, She splayed her hands on his shoulders and clung to him as he struggled to start a slow and deep rhythm. This wasn't a quick slam bam thank you ma'am booty call, it wasn't about getting off, well it was but it was something very different as well.

Jaci didn't think there was any way she could get turned on after being woken up out of the blue at 3am but she was wrong. Having Tig so intently focused on her, knowing he wanted her so badly was definitely causing some strong stirrings. She ran her hands up and down his back as he worked and has the minutes ticked by she felt a shift in his movements; he was getting close. Up till then they had been quiet, only breathing and grunting. But Tig suddenly whispered, "Say it."

She frowned, not sure what he was talking about... she hadn't said anything."Say what?'

"What you told me..." he answered distractedly.

She hesitated for a moment, confused but then realized what he was asking.

"Say it." Tig whispered again. He had always said that words were bullshit, but coming from her, they held weight with him. After doing the brutal shit he had to Jenks, he knew he and the club could get burned for it. He needed some confirmation that he had been JUST, to know that she was worth the risks he was taking. "Say it." He repeated, half demanding half pleading.

"I love you." Jaci said quietly. She felt him nod his head against hers and suddenly she wasn't just saying the words, she FELT them as much as she ever had. "I love you."

He didn't respond, his breath was ragged as he pushed into her over and over. He hit his stride and gritted his teeth as he came hard a moment later. His hips moved automatically with the aftershocks and he started to collapse onto Jaci, letting the overwhelming moment wind down slowly.

"Don't stop." She whispered. Her hands moved from his shoulders down to grip his hips and she ground herself up and into him. She wasn't done with him, his urgency had finally transferred to her. "Don't move, please don't move."

_Don't stop, don't move_...contradictory orders but he was spent and couldn't really do anything but hold still but that was exactly what she needed. Jaci bucked her hips up against him and worked to try and finish herself off. He tried to stare down at her as she pulled him closer. He loved the way she was clinging to him, in the moment she needed him as much as he had needed her. She gripped his ass hard with her hands, her body searching out every bit of leverage it could to get what she needed so badly. She came quickly, with panting breath, doing her best to be quiet, ever mindful of the others sleeping in the house. She relaxed finally and pulled him down with her. He kissed her and held his head against hers silently for a long while as they steadied their breathing. He had made the right decision...protecting this woman at all costs was the right thing to do, he would never regret that.

XXX

Later as Jaci slept soundly next to him, Tig jerked and grunted in his sleep, lying on his back. Five minutes passed and he gasped violently for breath as he shot awake with a start. He sat up in bed with his chest heaving and tried to get control of his irregular breathing. He swallowed hard and pulled his knees up under the sheet, leaning forward he rested his head in his hands, elbows resting on his knees. In the dark of the room he struggled to get a grip on reality.

The dream had been bad, worse than the prior ones that had come over previous months. He had been in the cemetery, standing over a fresh grave when a rotting hand had shot up suddenly from the dirt and latched violently onto to his boot. He had tried to get free but the hand had gripped his leg tightly and as the body began to unearth itself more and more, Tig had fallen on his ass. The body had started dragging him down, inside the grave. He struggled and fought but he was quickly losing his battle. He had flipped onto his stomach, clawing at the dirt, desperate to pull away, but was being dragged backwards. When he finally ventured a look behind him he fully expected to see Jenkin's eyeless face seeking revenge...but it was Donna who was pulling him to the grave.

Tig blew out a shaking breath and reached over, lightly touching Jaci sleeping form, trying to convince himself the dream was over. He thought of Donna's vengeful face from the dream and shook his head. _When's this shit gonna stop? When do I get OVER it? _ He finally lied flat on his back and stared at the ceiling, not eager to shut his eyes again. An hour later, he rolled onto his side and wrapped his arm around Jaci, pulling her close against him and finally fell asleep but mostly from exhaustion, not from a settled conscious.

_**XXX**_

In the morning, Tig opened his eyes and heard music playing. He frowned and lifted his head to look toward the master bath. The door was slightly ajar and a block of light spilled partially into the bedroom. He glanced at the clock, 6am..._entirely too fuckin' early._ He rolled out of bed, walked to the bathroom door, and listened as Stevie Nicks pleaded for someone to tell her lies, sweet little lies. The room was filled with steam from the shower and Jaci could be heard singing softly along to the chorus. Tig pushed fully into the room and shut the door behind him, asking. "What the fuck are you listening to?"

Jaci jerked slightly as the sudden sound of his voice. She mouthed a curse at being startled and rolled her eyes as she held the soapy loofah to her chest. "It's an 80s kind of morning." Tig snorted and she heard the sink cabinet slam shut and then a cap spin off a bottle, next came the sound of swishing and then Tig spitting into the sink. She smiled..._mouthwash...guess he's coming in. _A second later the shower door opened and Tig stepped inside. Without a word, she stepped to the side and let Tig slide past her, knowing he liked to stand closest to the spray. She turned her back to him and continued shaving her legs as he let the water pound against his shoulders.

A new song starting playing, this one slower. A guy sang about catching his breath, closing his eyes.

"Bama crew's rolling out from TM today." He reminded as he slicked his wet hair back from his face and stared at her naked form bent over in front of him. She muttered a 'yep'. He thought about the fallout from the night before with Jenkins. They'd have to go to Chapel about that and he wondered how split the guys would be about it. The singer talked about being in love before.

"You and Vix need to steer clear of the garage today." He reached out and ran his hand down her back, hooked his hand around her hip and pulled her ass against him. "We got some club shit to handle before they hit the road. Say your goodbyes at the salon or something."

"Ok." Jaci answered but she didn't like the avoidance directive, not after his weird behavior the night before. She finished with her legs and dangled the sponge over her shoulder. "Back please." Tig took the sponge and soaped up her back, keeping her bent over slightly when she tried to straighten up. Soon the sponge hit the shower floor and he slid his hands up and down her back, swirling the soap all around. She closed her eyes and tried to enjoy the moment. The song rolled into the second verse and Tig's hands roamed over her body with a more carnal task in mind.

She stood up straight and turned to face him. "You sure everything's ok?"

They stared at each other for a long moment before he nodded. "You got nothing to worry about."

With that assurance he kissed her, she wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes as he pushed her back gently against the side wall of the shower, making his intentions crystal clear. She added another song to the list of ones that would forever have an explicit memory tied to it.

_**XXX**_

Jaci called Vix and told her to steer clear of TM that morning. The guys were going to Twisted at 9am and she'd drop by to say their goodbyes. She followed Trace and the guys in the truck as they headed for the garage. She broke off and headed to work for a bit, wondering just what the hell had went down the previous night.

The Teller Morrow parking was full of bikes, all SAMCRO and Bama crew Sons were present and waiting as Trace pulled his truck to a stop and everyone got out. Tig stared at Jax, who was giving him the evil eye from the door of the clubhouse. He looked to Trace and Motor, "This shit goes sideways, just stay quiet. It's on me."

"Fuck that." Motor retorted and they filed inside the clubhouse.

Once inside, everyone took their usual seats with the Bama crew standing in the fringes. Bodie and Nolan had slightly confused looks on their faces, not really sure of the reason for the morning's urgent meeting.

Clay sighed and looked at Tig. "Ok, spill it."

"Prospect caught Jenkins sitting outside of Jaci's place last night...surveillance for LOAN or some shit. We took him out."

Murmurs of surprise came from all of the Sons.

"What?" Jax asked, stunned by the nonchalant announcement. "Details, Tig! What the fuck did you do?"

Tig felt instantly defensive and glared at Jax. He spoke to him like a child, spelling it all out. "We caught him watchin' the house, we took him out in the woods and we killed him."

Before Jax could respond, Clay nodded at Tig. "What kind of ceremony we talkin' here? Communion or confirmation?"

"Definitely communion." Tig answered with a smirk.

Chibs raised his eyebrows, knowing that communion meant no one would find the body.

"You knew about this?" Jax asked Clay.

Clay nodded. "Reactionary shit happens quick. Heat of the moment, son...I gave 'em the green light. Not everything can get a vote."

"Well it should...we all know what happens with rash thinking." Jax spat back, his words shining a light on another heat of the moment decision that had involved Tig and Clay.

"Rash? Who was rash?" Tig growled. "Jenks pulled shit a while back, he was warned not to do it again. He helped torch that salon and he was spying, fuckin' plotting against us. How many passes do you want to give him? What's the magic number, Jax?"

Jax snorted and just shook his head, too angry to talk. Juice was silently freaking the hell out. Vix ran in a very predictable pattern this days and that pattern exposed her. She was either at school, the salon or Cara Cara. The wheels in his mind kept turning and led him to horrible thoughts.

Tig felt an indignant fire blooming inside himself. He watched Jax and couldn't help but throw a barb. Jax had pulled a stunt just as rash; he was sure of it but just didn't know the details. "How many chances did you give that ATF agent of Tara's huh? One day he's here stirring up trouble then he's just gone..."

Jax gritted his teeth. "He went back to Chicago."

"Chicago huh?" Tig replied with a smile. "Mmmph...maybe that's where Jenkins went too. Maybe he's there with Kohn and Elvis and Jimmy fuckin' Hoffa."

"Jesus, cut it out you two." Bobby said with irritation. "Who else was in on this little covert operation?"

Trace and Motor raised their hand proudly. Half Sack raised his hand a little more tentatively; hating that Jax was so pissed about the situation.

"Put your hand down, Prospect. You didn't do anything wrong." Tig chided. "NONE of us did."

"Well...did Jenks give ya anything useful?" Bobby asked, hoping for something good to come out of the matter.

Trace shook his head. "Said he was just watching, asked why we were after just him, but then he clamped up. He knew he was fucked."

"Ay, fuck it. Good riddance." Chibs spat. Opie nodded his agreement. Piney eyed Jax and kept his opinions to himself.

"So now what?" Juice asked.

"Now nothing." Clay answered. "Jenks disappears and maybe LOAN think twice about fucking with us and ours. But enough of this shit...our Southern brethren are rolling out today. Let's give 'em a proper goodbye." He banged his gavel and ended the meeting. The men dispersed into the main room of the clubhouse to say so long.

Jax and Tig lingered behind in the Chapel. Jax stared hard at the SAA. "You two are killing this club...little by little."

Tig smirked and shook his head. "You ever have to make a hard decision, your head's gonna explode." He left his Vice President standing alone to ponder his words.

_**XXX**_

Jaci stood looking over Vix's shoulder at the present Trace had just handed them. It was an 8x10 framed black and white photo of Vix at age five holding a pair of scissors and grinning mischievously. He had been digging through old pictures and had come across it. It had been taken at his place during one of those long ago summer visits. Instantly he had thought its proper home was in Vix's salon and had taken the picture to a photo place with the simple instructions of 'here, make this look cool.' When the salon had burned down, he packed it in his bag, intent on hand delivering it to the girls.

"Jesus, I'm gonna tear up." Vix said quietly. Between the photo and the guys helping Half Sack install a mini bike to serve as the hair cutting chair for the kid's station, she was getting overwhelmed by all the caring.

"Nonono!" Bodie announced. "Enough of this sentimental bullshit, I can't take it." He grabbed each of the girls and gave them a tight hug. "Ya'll stay out of trouble and away from fire." He put his hat back on his head and headed for the front door. "I'll be in the truck."

"Knuckle head's right…we gotta get goin'." Nolan announced and then grabbed Vix's head in both his hands, pulling her face close to his. "I ain't meaning' to jinx you and your man and I don't give a fuck if you are sportin' a crow. If this shit don't work out, that 40-year plan of ours is still on the table." He gave her a stern look. "You MAKE him take REAL GOOD CARE OF YOU." Nolan kissed her smack dab on the lips and then let her go.

He looked to Juice who was looking a bit stunned. He pointed a finger at Vix's man. "There ain't no where safe on this planet if you hurt her." He lowered his voice and stepped closer. "And you remember what I told ya... some women need handled with kid gloves, Vix Parker ain't one of 'em. She lives and loves full bore. Take care of my girl, now." Juice nodded and extended his hand, Nolan shook it firmly and then walked for the door. "Come on y'all LET'S RIDE!"

Jaci had pulled Motor away from the odd love triangle of Vix, Juice and Nolan. She smiled at her cousin. "I promise...one day we'll get you out to Cali for purely recreational purposes."

Motor snorted, "Believe that when I see it." He extended his arms wide and she wrapped him up in a hug. "Take care of yourself, J." She nodded against him and then pulled back. He raised his eyebrows and added, "Good luck with your man."

Jaci gave a wry smile and said sarcastically, "You say that like I NEED luck."

He shrugged, "He may wear the pants in ya'lls relationship...but you got the brains. Holding that shit together...that's gonna fall on you, J."

"We really have to find you a girl, Motor." Jaci teased. "Then you can have all this relationship fun for yourself."

He rolled his eyes and walked outside to his bike but couldn't help but think about that girl from the bar the other night...Hope. He wondered how much drama she'd be; didn't matter though...he was headed back down South...to home.

_**XXX**_

After a final check of trucks and bikes, the Bama crew stood in the TM lot, loaded up and ready to hit the road...well as soon as Bodie got back from the bathroom. TNT looked at his friends and cocked his head. "I think our girl Vix might have found her man. Thinkin' ole Juice might be the ONE. Where everybody at on that? Where's BB at on processing that? Vix is convinced JJ wouldn't approve."

Trace chuckled. "That's cause he wouldn't. Hell old timer, you were shocked and stunned by him few months back at that webcam thing. I ain't got nothin' against the guy... bit tweeky at times but he's no more fucked up than anyone else in his generation. And he's a shit ton better than Preach."

"Thousand times better than Preach." Motor chimed.

Nolan shrugged. "Juice is solid. Crazy as it seems, I think they're good together. She's happy, I'm happy ya know?"

TNT nodded and then asked a slightly harder question just has Bodie walked back into the fold. "What about Jaci and that Tig guy?"

Nolan just shrugged while Bodie frowned. "I don't like it."

Motor rolled his eyes, "You don't like it 'cause you've always had a thing for her and she won't give you the time of day." Bodie shoved him and told him to shut up.

"She loves him." Trace stated with a sigh. "She ain't a dumb girl, we all know that so there's something to it."

"They ain't got a snowball's chance long term...but they're tighter than shit when they're ON." Motor noted. "Hell even when they're OFF, they're still half way ON so who knows."

TNT cracked a smile. "Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em."

"Amen." Bodie quipped. "And what I can't live without right now is some downhome Alabama pussy. Let's hit the road!" He looked at Motor expectantly. "Can I sing it now?"

Motor rolled his eyes again but nodded. Bodie grinned and burst into song, "EASTbound and down, loadin' up and truckin!"

_**XXX**_

Around 4:30 that afternoon, Juice called Vix, telling her to come to TM and see the new sign for the salon. She called Jaci on the way and her sister agreed to meet her there. As they arrived in their respective vehicles, it was clear the garage was shutting down for the day. Most of the guys were standing around talking in small groups with Gemma and Tara in the midst.

"Ok, let's see the masterpiece!" Vix called as she walked toward where Juice was standing. She rubbed her hands together in anticipation.

Juice smiled at her and pulled a tarp away in dramatic fashion, revealing the sign underneath. It was huge. _Twisted Scissors _was spelled out, each letter made from thick ropes of metal that had been twisted and welded together. In the middle of the sign, between the two words, was a pair of scissors that had been made in the same fashion.

"Holy shit!" Vix exclaimed, a huge grin spreading across her face.

"Now...it doesn't light up like your old one." Juice cautioned. "But we might be able to..."

"I don't care. This one is SO much better!" Vix replied as she ran her fingers along the sign and pictured it above her salon.

Jaci looked at the sign and nodded in agreement. "Wow...that is...awesome."

"Thank you, baby!" Vix grabbed Juice, smacking his lips with a big kiss.

Juice grinned and accepted her small assault of affection but soon came clean. "Well, you're welcome and everything...but I didn't really make it." He pointed behind Vix. "Tig did it."

"What?" Vix said with a frown. "Seriously?" She turned and looked at Tig. "You made this...for me?"

Tig just shrugged and nodded ever so slightly, not happy having the spotlight shining on him for somewhat noble reasons. He stared at his feet and then ventured a glance at Jaci, who wore a confused but happy smile. He stared at his feet again. _Goddamnit, why's everybody staring at me like that._

Vix's face softened as the weight of Tig's thoughtfulness hit her. "Aww...Tigger. Thank you!" Before he could protest, Vix launched herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck and planting a loud kiss on his cheek.

"OFF! Goddamnit, OFF!" Tig growled and Vix let go of him, laughing...along with everyone else that was gathered around.

It was a fun, light moment and after the laughs died down, everyone returned to their little groups. Vix and Juice stood by Jax and Tara. Clay and Gemma stood a few feet away with Bobby. Tig and Opie had wandered away by the bikes.

Jaci watched as Tig fired up a cigarette and shook his head, a slight smile on his lips as he said something to Opie. She gave a nod to Tara and then walked to the row of bikes. Chibs caught her eye and waved as he headed to park a van in the lot, getting it set for working on tomorrow. She waved back and was thankful he hadn't seen the Parker affection attack on Tig, he would have NEVER let Tig live that down. As she looked at Tig, she smiled. She knew he was embarrassed...never had liked taking any credit for doing something _good. _"Hey...thanks for the sign."

Tig pointed his finger at her in warning. "You jump me like your sister did, I'll put you on your ass."

Op snorted a laugh that drew Tig's attention. "What are you laughin' at, asshole? You should be thankin' me...I didn't let 'em know you HELPED with the goddamn sign."

"Oooh, you helped?" Jaci asked Opie with a grin. "Do you want attacked?"

Opie held his hands up in mock surrender. "Naw...I'm good." Jaci jerked like she was going to jump him and he took an automatic step backwards. The trio laughed but the happy moment was cut short when a deafening explosion erupted a second later. The concussion of the blast temporarily rocked everyone's senses and they all seemed to be looking at one another, frozen for a second, trying to figure out what had happened.

The flames pouring from the van in the parking lot grabbed everyone's attention at the same time.

"Oh shit!" Jax mumbled then screamed, "CHIBS!"

_~ To be continued_

**Musical Selections**:

Vix and Jaci's revenge: Sabotage, Beastie Boys

BOLTS explanation: No Stranger to the Rain, Keith Whitley

Tig and Jaci morning after:

Tell me Lies, Fleetwood Mac

Been in Love Before, Cutting Crew

We also put up a pic of Juice's mama over in our fic folder at TigNation.


	22. Chapter 19 Living Nightmare

**Walk Away from the Son****  
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SoA  
****Chapter 19- Charming Nightmares**

**By BG and Reaper**

**AN: They say it takes a village, well I would like to thank a very important Villager, B.C., for keeping the "Juice" flowin' right & proper! **

**Now, respectful "Props" due to any "works" quoted herein. Sometimes we are witty enough to make up names of books and places and spout wisdom fit for a fortune cookie , sometimes we need a little help. Pop Culture references are made with humble admiration and supreme hopes of never getting sued as our only "gains" from the writing of these stories are the reviews of the readers. That being said, we write when we can – between full time lives and jobs and husbands and children at every stage of development. We ask only two things:**

**A) If you read, leave a review (good or bad – we can take it! Calling us names & threatening death, however not so much)**

**B) Bare with the delays. We PRIDE ourselves on GOOD QUALITY! (I've recently learned that Mark Twain's **_**Adventures of Huckleberry Finn **_**underwent seventeen HUNDRED revisions. Now while we do not presume to be in even the same solar system as Twain... quality takes time!) We have mapped out very interesting futures for these Parker Girls. We hope you'll stick it out with us, we're pretty sure you'll continue to enjoy the ride….it just may take us a while to get there.**

**We Love ya'll! **

**Reaper & BG**

**XXX **

**As for inspiration, check out Avenged Sevenfold's song Nightmare.**

_**You should have known**_

_**The price of evil**_

_**And it hurts to know that you belong here...**_

_**Oooh, yeah! It's your fuckin' nightmare...**_

_**While your nightmare comes to life.**_

**XXX**

_Just like the Hatfields and McCoys...the names of those feuding familes that Vix is doing research on for her paper_ was the thought tumbling around in Juice's head as he stared at the blips of blue and red flashing lights filling the night sky. They lent a carnival-like feel to the state of things at Teller Morrow. They all knew this had to be LOAN and there seemed to be an uncategorizable threat the likes of which his club had never run across. Juice didn't _do_ uncategorizable very well, his mind needed to identify and process and if it took parlaying what these assholes were doing into the equivalent of some goddamn hillbilly feud from the 1800's so be it. _We are the McCoys... and we are so fucked! _Because while Ethan Zobelle might not dress the part, Juice could certainly see where he could play the role of patriarch, Devil Anse Hatfield. He recalled Vix saying that the Hatfields were supposedly way more affluent and well-connected politically. "This is a fuckin' nightmare." He muttered to no one in particular then glanced around _Where the hell IS Vix?_

XXX

"Boy's got a strong constitution." Chief Unser said aloud as much for the benefit of the SAMCRO president as for his own. _Think It So _was the title of the latest inspirational reading book added to the pile on Wayne's bedside table. Chock-full of positive thinking BS was more like it. This morning's gem of wisdom had been: _Redirect substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, unstoppable determination. _Well, fuck _The Self-Help Daily Press_ for publishing the damn book and fuck Ralph Marston for uttering that useless damn phrase in the first place. About all Wayne Unser knew about the power of positive thinking was that _it will positively fuck you over_ but it will generally annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.

He glanced over as Clay mumbled something about volatile liquids. "If Forensics finds anything else, Feds are gonna be all over this... bombs are Homeland Security." Shaking his head in resignation, he listened to Clay instructing him to massage the evidence to make it look like an accident and not a bombing.

With a sigh, he moved onto the next unpleasant topic. "Look I know what you gotta do here but we both know Zobelle has caused enough damage in this town."

Clay sneered at the one-foot-out-the-door- the-other-in-the-grave Chief of Police as he pointed out that the blow back from any retaliation could hit Charming. "Then you get me a home address for him and Weston, they both live outta town. Otherwise, you'll be watching Main Street on the 10 o'clock news."

XXX

"You doin' a'ight?" Jax called out to Juice, who was walking by looking a bit panicked. He knew how club adversity had a way of knocking the guy way off plumb.

Pausing, Juice rubbed his hand over his mohawk, "Um, nah...but I'm more worried about Vix. She practically hyperventilated after the explosion. She's still got that post traumatic shit from the fire at Twisted. Now I can't find her. Have you seen her?"

Jax shook his head. "If I see her I'll tell her you're lookin' for her." He watched Juice nod and wander off just as Deputy-Chief Hale approached.

"This was Zobelle."

XXX

Vix was half-hidden in shadow where she sat cross-legged on the pavement next to the cinderblock wall of the club house, halfway down the parking lot. She rocked back and forth with Spawn's head in her lap, his ever-growing, lanky body curled up beside her. _**Fire**_. There was all this fire again. And the acrid smell of smoke and burned plastic, melting rubber, gasoline...and even if it was in her imagination, she swore she smelled blood. Really it was just her imagination but that didn't make the scent less real. No wait... there was blood, quite a bit, pooling out of Chibs' head wound. _JEEZ-US!_ She stroked her baby's head absently while in her own head, two versions of the same song battled round robin style for dominance. One tune, two wholly different meanings but neither a comfort. And both were tied to tumultuous moments from her past. Past? Please, make that her entire life, beginning the moment she shot out of her mother's birth canal. It had all been crazy: round robins of shit and more shit. As she started to hum, the sound quickly became a whimper, and Spawn picked up his head in concern before resting it back down as Vix began to hum..._Hmmm... hmmm. Hmm hmm hmmm ….hmm hmm...hmm_

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

_One, Two... Freddy's Coming For You..._

Three, Four, Knock At The Door

_Three, Four... Better Lock Your Door..._

Five, Six...Five, Six ?

She could hear her breaths leave her lungs in panicked spurts. As she stared at the flames that keep reigniting and eating up the frame of the minivan, the idyllic lyrics faded, leaving behind only the nightmarish ones. They taunted her, a sing-song voice inside her head that none of the chaos around her was able to drown out...

_Five, Six... Grab Your Crucifix..._

_Seven, Eight... Better Stay Up Late..._

_Nine, Ten... Never Sleep Again..._

She never saw it coming, so focused on the dancing flames and smoke. She never heard a thing, the sounds in her head drown out every other. But she felt it….the feel of a hand upon her. It startled her so that she kicked back with a loud yelp, her back slamming into outside wall of the clubhouse. Her movement was so quick that when she skidded back Spawn jumped to his feet, getting in between Vix and "the threat", snarling and snapping at the air.

Juice retracted his hand. "Jeez-us Christ!"

Vix snapped back into reality, "What?"

"You're fuckin'_ hound of hell_ tried to bite my hand off."

Vix scowled at him, "He's traumatized Jean!" The anger waned as she added, "We all are."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, babe." He took a step in her direction, only to be met with a snarl revealing twenty eight very sharp teeth. "SPAWN!"

"Come here, Spawn, baby." Vix murmured and reached out a hand, running it down the length of the Doberman's spine and soothing down the hairs that were standing on-edge. The pup responded by backing up and sitting at attention directly at her side. "That's a good boy." She lovingly nuzzled the side of his neck and then pulled away, glancing at Juice, "He's just protecting me, you know that right?"

"Yeah, I get it. Can i sit?" He watched Vix nod and then sat down on pavement beside her."You ok?" He knew she wasn't but couldn't help the question from coming out of his mouth. "Stupid Question number four hundred seventy-seven."

"I'm freaked the hell out, Juice. This is way the fuck too close to home. I keep snapping back to the night Twisted blew up... all the lights and sirens, the smell of smoke, the flames."

"Come here." Out of his periphery, he watched her scoot closer and felt her lean into him. "Slow it all down, Vix." He said in the calmest voice he could muster. He listened as she took a few deep breaths and blew them out slowly. "Gonna have to take a raincheck on dinner." He shot for some levity but then noticed that Vix wasn't listening to him. She looked up at the sky and shook her head.

"I hate being scared. It's not a default setting... hell, it doesn't even come standard. Ballsy, bad-ass, brave."

"Vix! Jesus, you're one of the ballsiest chicks I know. And it's alright to be scared, baby. One of our family just blew up in front of our eyes. If you weren't afraid I'd be scared OF you. Being brave ain't got shit to do with not being afraid. It's doing what you gotta do despite the fact that you are."

Vix turned, eye brow cocked, smirk on her lips, "What after-school special did you gleam that off of?"

Juice turned his face away and smiled. He knew it took a lot for Vix to admit she to what she deemed a weakness, now she'd get snarky in spades because she'd let someone see that she wasn't really as tough as she pretended to be. "I gotta go. We gotta figure out how were gonna deal with this. I don't want you all alone in the apartment building. Take Cujo over there and go to your sister's. Locked and loaded, ok? You feel threatened by anyone, you blow their ass off this fuckin' planet."

_**XXX**_

Jaci kept her eyes on the TM exit, where the ambulance had left a few minutes earlier. She stood with her arms crossed tightly over her chest. _Did that really just happen? Were we really fifty feet away from a car bomb? Is Chibs really laying half dead in the back of that meat wagon? _She felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped at the contact. She turned to see Tig staring at her.

"You ok?"

She nodded. "You?"

"We're headin' to the table."

"Ok. Vix and I are going to head to Jax's place, relieve Neeta. Figured we'd hang there until Gemma gets there later."

He gave quick nod even though he'd rather her just go straight home but he knew there was no way the Parkers would leave Abel hanging in the wind with a 'stranger' tonight. "Fine, but after that you head home. Lock yourself in your house with your sister, the dyke and the motherfuckin' demon dog and stay there. Anyone comes you don't know, shoot first...we'll bury the bodies later."

She nodded her understanding, knowing he was completely serious about the body burying. "Hey, call me when you can." Her request fell on deaf ears as Tig was already walking toward the clubhouse. She sighed and glanced around looking for Vix, found her sister nodding at something Juice was saying as the pair walked towards the pavilion area. "Here we go…shit's getting serious."

They said their goodbyes to Gemma, assuring her they didn't mind hanging at Jax's, then headed for their rides. Jaci sat down in her Mustang with her hand on the keys, not really wanting to turn over the engine. Vix stood at the driver side window. "Oh just do it. I'll stand here...if it blows, we go together."

"Not funny." Jaci chided and turned the engine over. It roared to life without consequence.

"Follow the leader to Jax's?" Vix raised her voice over the revving motor and saw her sister nod in reply.

_**XXX**_

Vix stood in front of an open cupboard in Jax's kitchen, "Christ, I'm starved. Where do you think Jax stashes the contraband?" She rolled her eyes at Jaci's questioning look. "Come on, ya know the Ding Dongs and Cheddar Bacon Potato skins? Something besides the organic veggies in the fridge and this fiber-infused crap."

"Jax's stash of Skittles and Twizzlers are in the pantry, hidden behind the wheat germ." Neeta whispered as she made her way across the kitchen towards the back door.

"Anarchy!" Vix grinned and announced as she walked over and threw open the double doors, pulling the long cord on the light.

"Oh and Abel is not allowed to watch _Cribs._" Neeta advised.

"Why not? He lives in one." Vix re-emerged tearing open an econo-sized package of red Twizzlers.

"No MTV, Ms. Tara says it's not age appropriate." Neeta advised with a smile.

"Whatever, did she happen to mention VH1? There's an _I Love the 80s_ marathon on."

"We've got it covered. Good night, Neeta." Jaci said. The nanny wished them a good rest of the night and said she'd be back at 9am the next morning. She walked the nanny outside then closed and locked the door. She headed back into the living and saw her sister lying on the couch.

"Hey, do you think Jax and Tara will let me crash here if Juice is still tied up at the club house?"

Jaci glanced over at her sister. "Sorry sweetie, Tara is not a fan of your four-legged compadre. Once Jax gets back, we can head over to Parker Place."

"You live on Elm Street, J. No offense but no thanks."

_**XXX**_

_The hour was late, middle of the night to be precise, and the silence was so total it was ominous. The Woman standing at the window stared out at the dark night. Here and there she could see pinpricks of light, but she had no idea what they were. She could also see her reflection in the dark window as well as the entire room behind her._

_The woman closed her eyes and wondered if she would ever sleep again. How long could a person go without sleeping? She should know the answer to this. Why didn't she know?_

Decidedly NOT what she needed to be reading, Vix concluded and closed the book, tossing it down on the coffee table. _Up Close And Personal _by Fern Michaels. _Hmph_. She was just standing up to stretch, when someone on the other side of the front door attempted to twist the knob. Reaching down, she scooped her locked and loaded Smith & Wesson off the coffee table. _Fern may have been right, someone is about to get Up Close & Personal with the business end of my .44._

"Spawn, _Guard!_ " The 8 month-old Doberman heeded one of the his newly learned verbal commands. Instantly on alert, he moved to the spot Vix indicated with a point of her finger. He came to a halt at the head of the hall leading towards Abel's nursery. "_Good Boy_!" Vix praised.

"Vix, who are you talking to?" Jaci questioned as she entered the hall from Abel's room. She froze upon seeing Vix with her gun trained on the front door.

"Someone's out there. I didn't hear a bike. Did you hear a bike?" Vix hissed at her sister.

Jaci was shaking her head when Spawn started snarling, vision trained on the darkened kitchen. Vix whispered, "Back door." She nodded toward the hallway, "Lock yourself in with Abel. Go." She commanded her older sister seemingly as easily as she did her pooch. "Come, Spawn." The dog responded by leaving his post and trailing behind her toward the kitchen.

Vix was entering the kitchen when the door swung open. "I got fifteen good reasons and one in the chamber for you to stop right where you're at!" She yelled to the still darkened silhouette.

"Vix! Holy Shit! Don't Shoot Me!"

Recognizing the voice, she turned and groped the wall switch plate. "Sack? Oh my fuckin' God! What the fuck are you doin' here?"

"Jax sent me over...to check on things."

"Were you just at the front door?"

"Yeah, I didn't know... he gave me the key to the backdoor. Hey, you mind NOT pointing that at me?" He nodded towards the gun still in her hand.

"Yeah, yeah." Vix grumbled as she turned and walked out of the kitchen. She knocked on Abel's door, "Jaci... all clear, It's Sack."

Jaci unlocked the door and came out clenching Abel, "Have you lost your mind? Ever heard of calling first?"

"Why didn't we hear your bike?" Vix added to the inquiries.

"Didn't want to wake you if you were sleepin' and I'm driving around in a van." Half Sack winced and looked downward for a second. "Bit swollen down south, straddling the bike is uncomfortable."

"TMI! Gross!" Vix tossed up her hands.

"Any word on Chibs?" Jaci asked.

"Nothin' yet. Tara is keepin' tabs on him. Jax was heading over to St Thomas too."

"Juice still at the club house?" Vix ventured a guess. After receiving a nod, she sighed, "Sack's here, I'm going to see Juice." She held up a hand to ward off her sister's objection. "I just... you two got Abel covered. I need to make sure Juice's ok. I.. I gotta go." Turning on her heel, she scooped up her purse and shoving the tell-tale scraps of candy papers inside and strode out of the house, commanding Spawn to follow.

Half Sack followed the youngest Parker sister with his wary eyes. "Is she ok?"

Jaci shook her head. "I gave up a long time ago trying to understand my sister. She'll be fine, Kipp." She rearranged Abel in her arms. "Come on, Little Man. Let's try to get you settled back down."

_**XXX**_

Very early in her life, Vix had developed a hard shell around her soul. Her tough exterior had always been an asset but lately she didn't feel so tough. Vix Parker felt vulnerable and raw and she hated how that felt. Navigating the streets of Charming on auto-pilot, shocked when she glanced up and saw the place her subconscious had taken her. Hooking the leash to Spawn's collar before they stepped out of her Jeep, she lead the way across and along the stone wall and came to stop under the brightly lit entrance way. She'd rang the buzzer three times before she heard the locks turn and watched the door pull open in a huff, "Somebody had better be spurtin' blood... it's one o'clock in the morning."

Vix, despite the funk she was currently in, could hardly keep the amused look off her face as she stared at the old Catholic priest, standing before her sporting a bathrobe and bed-head, "Spurtin' blood? Really?"

"Yeah well, doing God's Work is rough and tumble. Even HE carved out some time for rest, Parker." Father Carlin sighed. "What brings you 'round at this hour? I heard what happened over at Teller- Morrow."

"Yeah, we still don't know how Chibs is gonna fair.. I've been bombarding The Big Guy with requests as of late, some for good things to happen... some, not so much." She took a shaky breath and glanced around. "I'm a little lost Father. No, that's a lie... I'm A LOT lost and most of my nearest and dearest are too."

"Why don't you come in and sit down Vix? You seem a little... _disturbed_."

"That's nothing unusual for me, Father." She muttered as she slowly walked past the priest, Spawn trailing behind her. She glanced around the humble abode "We got some confidentiality privilege or somethin'?"

"Church Doctrine prohibits me from revealing anything I am told in confidence so yes, whatever is said will be kept between you, me and God."

"I've got nothing to confess... just need some advise and ain't too keen on the entire town knowing. And for the record... I talk to The Big Guy quite a bit." She glanced over and found the Priest smirking.

"You are aware, Parker, that God's first name is not _OH! _Nor is his last name _Damnit!"_

"Nice one, Father Smart-Ass. Coming here was a bad idea. Christ!" She heard him clear his throat. "Oops, sorry. I mean, if YOU can't even take me seriously and it's your job is to believe in the good in people and like bring it out?" She sighed heavily. "I'm lost and don't know what to do. Everyone I care about is getting hurt and I don't know how to help. I only know how to fight and go on the offensive."

Her temper was bubbling just under her shaken up surface, Father Carlin could hear it in her voice, along with the tears. She was wrung out. Her ability to keep her emotions at bay had worn away in the aftermath of everything going on around her. "You're a hell of a tough cookie, Vix, I'll say that for you but that's not always the smartest thing to be. I'm going to give you something." He walked over to a small cupboard and extracted a tiny box. He handed it to Vix. "It's a Saint Erasmus medal."

"A Saint what?"

"Erasmus... also known as Saint Elmo."

"Oh!" Vix nodded. "Like in the movie."

Heaving an exasperated sigh, the priest continued, "The lights in the sky that used to help sailors find their way, they are named after him. He is the patron saint of navigation. Perhaps maybe he will help you find your way."

Vix rolled her eyes but accepted the trinket. "You want me to pray to a saint for guidance? Man, I'd be better askin' directions from a genie in a bottle of Jack D." She stood up. "Thanks for your time though. Come on, Spawn."

_**XXX**_

The back entrance to the overflow lot at TM stood open. A _uni_ from Charming PD was at the gate and waved at her to stop. "Hey, Vix. Not a really good idea for you to be hanging around a crime scene."

Her face contorted into an expression of disgust. "Gonna report me to Hale? Maybe he'll cuff me again like he did the last time I was at a crime scene."

With a sigh the officer stepped away from the driver's side door. Vix pulled onto the lot and parked her Jeep amongst the menagerie of REPOs and vehicles to be serviced. She led Spawn the long way around the property line, through the inside gate and over to the clubhouse, careful to avoid the now taped off area where the still smoldering, burn to a crisp minivan shell stood ominously. She rang the buzzer at the door of the club house. A few moments afterward the electric lock clicked and she entered.

"Thought you were stayin' at your sister's?" Juice said when she settled down on the stool next to where he sat. He leaned over and kissed her neck just behind her ear.

"I NEED to be here, where you are. You're my beacon in all this shit." She explained and smiled through the sadness. "You're my St. Elmo." She clamped her hand over her mouth, as she laughed and cried simultaneously.

Juice's eyebrows shot up his forehead, "St. Elmo? Like in the movie?"

Vix sniffled and snickered, "No not really apparently... it's complicated. But how I mean it is that if I just stick by you... if we stick together, we'll be ok. I'm pretty sure."

"And I am pretty sure that was the sappiest fuckin' shit I've ever heard."

Vix shot a startled, death glare over her shoulder. "Shut up, Tig." She hadn't noticed the room's other two occupants when she'd breezed in, being so focused on Juice.

"Tig's just jealous, kid. He ain't nobody's Saint Nothin'.'" Happy chuckled.

_**XXX**_

Tig rolled his eyes at the love fest between Juice and Vix and took Hap's dig in stride. He walked off down the hallway and looked back over his shoulder to make sure he was alone. Pulling out his cell, he hit the speed dial for a certain someone. He had thought he had her squared away for the night but here her sister was running around town, not holed up at Parker Place like she was supposed be. He pinched the bridge of his nose while the phone rang. Jaci picked up on the other end but he ignored her hello. "If your sister has her ass parked on our couch...where the fuck are you?"

"I'm gonna stay at Jax's."

"Is that where you're supposed to be?"

Jaci raised her eyebrows at the domineering tone. "Um, I really didn't think you'd want a play by play of my night. You probably have enough to worry about."

"Fuckin' A...so do you really want me thinking you're dead if your house blows up tonight? Add that to the pile of shit I gotta deal with?"

Jaci smiled as she read between the lines of his retort. He was WORRIED but heaven forbid he ever just SAY IT. She thought about teasing him for being concerned and checking in, even if he was doing in a very brash manner but thought better of it. You didn't make fun of shit you would actually like to see repeated more often so she simply replied, "Sorry."

"You're fuckin smiling right now aren't you? I can fuckin' hear it."

"Nooo, not at all." Jaci replied with a small laugh.

Tig shook his head in minor frustration. "Just watch your ass...where ever it is, ok?"

"Will do."

Tig hung up without saying anything else. Goddamn independent women.

**XXX**

The next morning…

"Oh My God!" Chuckled Jax as he set aside a binder he was writing in. He shook his head as he took in the pair of white-frame retro 50's style sunglasses perched atop Vix's head, the yellow sleeveless sundress and black Doc Martens boots. "What the hell are you wearin', sweetheart?"

"My mood and frame of mind are closely tied to my attire. After yesterday, I need some sunshine and happiness." She explained as she climbed onto the roof.

"Ya look like Sandra Dee does SoHo." He retorted and she tsk'd him. "So what's up, Vix?" He watched her sit down next to him and dig a folder out of a red and white polka-dot tote bag.

"Need some help, got this school project due." She affixed him a stern look when he groaned in protest. "It's really simple, all I have to do is ask three people what they see when they look at these ink blots and write down their response. I'm going to fail Modern Psychology if I don't finish it and well I already have Bobby's response. He's my borderline, I need a relatively sane person." She grinned at him and batted her eyelashes, "That would be YOU."

Jax grinned and nodded. "Ah."

"And then I need a someone completely off the chart nuts. Have you seen Tig?"

Jax snorted, "Nah… but hey, if the resident psychopath isn't available, might I suggest one from outta town?"

Vix followed his line of vision. "Ooooh Happy! He'd work. Ok, take a look at these four pictures and tell me the first thing that you see." Vix handed them one at a time to her ex-brother-in-law. He studied each ink blot and told her what he saw. She jotted his responses. "Ok, and one more."

From the parking lot below, the voice of one of the Charming's finest could be heard calling out, "Hey! This is a crime scene!" Jax glanced down and saw Edmund Hayes walking onto the lot. He handed the picture back to Vix, while standing up and muttering, "Jesus Christ." He paused at the top of the ladder and stared at Vix. "Bit of trouble. Stay here, a'ight?"

Vix nodded and stuffed her school stuff back in her bag. Drawn to the edge of the roof, she saw the guys of Samcro meet a familiar looking person. She racked her brain trying to place the face. Where had she seen that face before? She heard the accent and her breath caught in her throat, recalling the Irish guy with the shotgun from the parking lot in Galt. The same guy who had aided Polly Zobelle somehow knew the Sons. _Holy shit! _Everyone was pretty sure it was Zobelle's crew that had planted the bomb that blew up Chibs and they blew up Chibs to send a message to The Club. And now this Irish Asshole who apparently knew The Club AND Polly Zobelle was nosing around the day after the car bomb that blew up Chibs, which everyone is pretty sure Zobelle planted. _There was an old woman who swallowed a fly, we don't know why she swallowed a fly, perhaps she'll die?_

Vix shuddered as her mind went all crazy conspiracy theory on her. Inside her bag her phone blared _'Mustang Sally, guess you better slow your Mustang down…Mustang Sally, now baby. Guess you better slow your Mustang down'_ Digging in her bag, she extracted her phone, "Hey, J. No, no new news here. Last word Jax heard was that his brain is still bleeding. No, I don't think he's alone cause when Clay got here he said something about Gemma being there, why?... Trying to finish my Psych project and that supply order is supposed to be delivered this afternoon… nah, Juice tracked it online… yeah right… would only give a 4-hour window sometime between the hours of 12:30 and 4:30… yeah, I'll tag along, pick me up at TM."

Vix waited for the Irishman to leave and then gathered up her bag and proceeded down the ladder. She was walking across the parking lot when she heard a familiar voice, "Vix… don't you look nice? Pretty yellow dress."

Slowing her stride, she turned and nodded with a smile at the police chief, "Thanks, Chief." She went and took a seat at one of the tables under the pavilion roof and watched Unser walk over and speak with Clay. She watched the SAMCRO president hand out verbal instructions, to which Juice nodded in reply, "Sparkle and Shine." As Juice walked her way he smiled. "Speaking of shiny things, that dress is bright as the sun, baby."

"So I've been informed… repeatedly." Vix laughed, "J's headin' this way to pick me up. We're gonna go check on Chibsy then hang at Twisted 'til they drop off my supply order."

Juice made a grimace. He knew the location of her salon gave her a damn front row seat to whatever might go down at the smokes shoppe. He also knew eyes had been watching that locale and the enemy had not shone hide nor hair. "Vix, I'm gonna be tied up here all day dealin' with club stuff and I know normally _low profile _doesn't begin to register with you, but because of all this shit that keeps happenin' to all of us…please!"

Vix nodded, "It's alright, I get it baby. No worries. I just want my salon back open." She cocked her head. "Hey, um… that guy, came by little bit ago? Sounded kind sorta like Chibs? Who's he?"

"Edmund Hayes, friend of the club. Why?"

"Looked familiar, mighta seen him around."

Juice nodded, "Yeah well, dude's a complete tool.. steer clear."

Vix smiled, "Completely! Not my type, Juicey…don't get your boxers in bunch." Leaning forward, she planted a kiss on his lips. She heard the low rumble of Jaci's 'Stang before she saw it pull onto the lot.

_**XXX**_

At St. Thomas, Jaci waited for her sister to shut the hospital room door before she sat down next to Chibs' bed. She stared at his face as he slept. He had woken up earlier, before they had gotten here, and Tara had been able to tell him what had happened to him. He had just given a slight nod and fallen back asleep. Jaci removed her glasses, rubbed her eyes and then set the trendy frames back on her nose. She had been forced to wear glasses all day since ripping one of her contacts that morning and her eyes were not happy.

It was unsettling to see Chibs in this way…hurt, vulnerable, dependent. He was always so full of it, cracking perverted jokes and whatnot. Now he just seemed lifeless…like someone had unplugged him. _Unplugged…holy shit don't say that! _She had counted him as a friend since first meeting him but over the past year her feelings for him had taken a step into slightly more than friendly territory. She would have been upset to see any one of the guys laid up in this condition but it being Chibs had her especially concerned. To put it in the simplest terms, they had swapped spit damnit…there was an obligation to care. Thankfully since she was a part of the Club due to various relationships, no one would think it out of place for her to be checking in on him.

Jaci reached out to take his limp hand in hers and looked toward the door just to be sure no one was about to enter. She talked quietly to him for a few moments before realizing she would never say any of that stupid shit to him if he had been awake, it was too formal and pretentious. She sighed and smiled as she teased him. "Ok, forget all that dumb shit I just said. You just need to get better…what if I need to make out with you again someday? And besides that I'm sure the chicks over at Cara Cara are already missing you."

A moment later she felt his hand shift in hers. Her eyes flitted from their hands to his face. He was staring at her with a frown. _Do NOT worry him, be cheerful! _She smiled widely and said, "Hey, Chibsy. How you feeling?"

He frowned again and blinked his eyes, looking confused as he tried to lean forward slightly. "Who the fook are you?"

Jaci looked surprised. _Oh shit, he has amnesia. _She leaned closer and put her hand on his chest to keep him from moving. "Chibs, it's me...Jaci…Parker. Do you remember who I am?"

"Jaci?" He blinked hard again and then recognition finally spread across his face. "Well of course I remember who ya are. Why the hell you wearing glasses?"

"Ripped my last contact."

"Oh." He leaned back on the bed and laughed weakly. "I thought you were Sarah Palin. Couldn't figure out why the fook she'd be here."

Jaci laughed with him, relieved that he wasn't going to be some soap opera-eqse biker amnesia victim. "Sorry! Damn you scared me...I thought you had brain damage."

"Nah, my brain's fine." He looked at her more closely and smiled with half lidded eyes. She waited a long moment for him to say something else but instead he fell back asleep. Recuperating was going to be a long process for him.

Jaci gave him one last look and brought his hand to her lips. She gave it a quick peck and then stood up to leave. Just as she walked around the end of his bed, the room door opened. She pulled up short, thinking it odd to see a stranger in his room that obviously wasn't a nurse. The middle aged African American woman was wearing casual clothes and had wild curly black hair streaked with gray.

"Can I help you?" Jaci asked as she protectively stepped between the stranger and the bed where Chibs' slept.

"Ay, you can tell me why you're kissin' on Filip's hand."

Jaci frowned, feeling semi guilty for being 'caught' but shook it off, turning skeptical and defensive. "He's a friend...who was nearly killed. I'm concerned."

"Are ya fookin' him?"

"WHAT?"

"Ya heard me."

Jaci took a moment to process the question and the accent. "Yeah I heard you...just didn't believe my ears that a STRANGER would be so rude to ask something like that." She shook her head in confusion. "Just who are you?"

"I'm his wife…name's Fiona." The stranger said with a smirk. Jaci raised her eyebrows but before she could say anything, Gemma poked her head inside the room.

"Fiona." Gemma said evenly. "Surprised to see you here."

Fiona just shrugged and gave Gemma a cool smile. "Heard he was hurt…Karrieanne was concerned. Thought I would check in on him."

"You got across the pond awfully quickly." Gemma pointed out.

Fiona smirked. "Was already here, Gemma."

Gemma nodded and turned to see that Tara and Vix both were now standing in the doorway as well. It was getting to be a little bit too crowded for comfort. She locked eyes with the confused Parker in the center of the room. "J...come on, let's go."

Jaci looked from Gemma to the stranger woman claiming to be Chibs' wife. She started to ask a question but Gemma said more forcefully, "JACI...let's GO." One look at Gemma's taunt face and Jaci knew to leave. She walked out along with the others and only to be half dragged a few steps away from the door by Gemma.

"Gemma, what the hell?" Jaci yanked her arm free.

"Who's that bitch giving you the stink eye, Gem?" Vix asked with concern.

Gemma waved the group of girls down the hall. As they walked, she gave them the short version of an explanation. "That is Chibs' wife…lives in Ireland."

"She wasn't making that up? He's married?" Jaci exclaimed.

"Separated…very long time, just never got divorced, bad situation. She's with another guy now…goddamn psycho. Chib's has a teenage daughter too, they live in Ireland for the most part." Gemma replied, clearly agitated. "I've only been scared of three woman my whole life…my third grade teacher, my mother, and that Irish bitch. You girls stay clear of her." When she didn't hear a response she came to an abrupt stop and looked each girl in the eyes. "I'm serious on this shit. That woman is bad news; she's got straight line ties back to the IRA. If she's here so quick, it's for reasons other than just Chibs and you don't want any part of it. You all stay the hell away from her. Do not piss her off."

Tara nodded her understanding. The Parkers picked up on the stress in Gemma's voice and simultaneously gave her a reluctant but sincere, "Yes, ma'am." Tara went back to work and the others rode the elevator down to the lobby in silence. They walked to the parking lot and Gemma quickly loaded up her ride and rolled out without another word.

_**XXX**_

"Ain't that some shit." Vix mused. Jaci nodded and tried to wrap her brain around the whirlwind hospital happenings. She fished out a cigarette and fired it up but not before offering her sister one. Jaci waved her off in a polite decline.

After a few puffs, Vix announced, "I think I fucked up, sis."

Jaci stared at her, "What now?"

"I think I might have gotten Chibsy blown up." Vix stated bluntly. Jaci was all frowns so Vix gave her the quick version of events. "When Nolan, me and Bodie went to Gault…I sorta got a hold of Polly, that chick that burnt the salon. Ran across her in the middle of town...I sorta beat her ass."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah…it was a good little fight, till we heard the cops coming. We broke off and me and the guys got the hell out of Dodge." Vix explained.

"Juice know about this?"

"Nope, just you. Nolan laid his bike down on purpose to have an excuse for me being scratched up. I didn't want to tell anybody…didn't want people getting pissed. But she set me on _fire_, J."

"I know." Jaci oddly wasn't mad, she was getting used to random odd shit happening. She shook her head and laughed slightly. A beat down actually seemed a little light in the punishment department for what Polly did and she was proud of Vix for showing restraint. "While it might have been a bad idea, trust me, Vix...a little fist-a-cuffs didn't land Chibs in the hospital."

"But what if she told her dad? He'd be pissed and they'd want to really get back at all of us..."

Jaci held up her hand and said very seriously, "Vix...you didn't cause it. You know as well as I do we're not privy to everything this club does. There's probably tons of shit that's gone down, much worse things. Everything piled up, it wasn't just you."

Vix cocked her head, "What do you know?"

"Nothing…I'm generalizing." Jaci replied. The sisters stood in the parking lot mulling over the situation. She sighed and decided to break the tension with a confession of her own, sensing that Vix felt really bad about her Polly secret. "I can make you feel better."

"Oh yeah?"

"I made out with Chibs."

Vix's head jerked around. "Say what? When?"

"When me and Tig were broke up. He came over to apologize for the stuff with Juice, that Cara Cara stuff that went down after they beat down your teacher? I was upset...and drunk. He tried to make me feel better...we just took it a little too far."

"How far, J?"

"Not THAT far...Jesus! I'm not completely stupid!" Jaci spat. "We pulled up short, no harm, no foul. Just wanted you to know you're not the only one that fucks up."

Vix was stunned and oddly proud. "Wow...I can't...just wow." She laughed and stared across the parking lot of the hospital.

"You can NEVER tell anyone, Vix. I'm fuckin' serious. You know what would happen." Jaci warned.

"That'll go to my grave, sister." Vix crossed her heart with her finger and zipped her lips.

"Thank you."

Another moment of silence overtook them bfore Vix grinned. "So what was it like?"

Jaci laughed and shoved her sister. "Shut up." She took a step toward her car and suddenly stopped.

"Shit."

"What?"

"I forgot my damn jacket...it's in Chibs' room." Jaci sighed. Vix raised her eyebrows and nodded back toward the hospital as if to say 'let's go' but Jaci waved her off. "Just hang out here...I can brave the dragon lady myself."

She quickly made her way back to Chib's room and peeked inside through the small glass window in the door. Fiona was nowhere to be seen. She looked down the hall both ways and then slipped back inside the room. She walked straight to the chair by the bed and grabbed her jacket. After a quick glance at Chibs' sleeping form, she made her way to the hallway again, all without incident.

Jaci walked toward the elevators but pulled up short when she came to the door to the stairwell. Her pulse quickened as she stood staring at the door and she surprised herself by reaching out and opening it. _Can't be scared of goddamn stairs for the rest of your life. _She stepped over the threshold and let the heavy door shut behind her. The stairwell was empty and quiet as she took a few tentative steps forward on the landing. Her mind immediately jumped to those tense moments, months earlier when the two Nords had jumped her. She walked slowly down the first section of stairs and stood on the next landing, her back pressed against the wall as the assault replayed in her mind.

So much had changed since that time, Abel and Vix were both better now...her nephew healthy and her sister finally coming into her own and growing up. Relationships had been forged and some had flourished while others had failed, only to rekindle later. The club had seen its share of hardships...first Donna and now Chibs. Jaci felt like the only thing that was constant in Charming was the cold hard fact that NOTHING was constant...chaos always seemed to reign supreme.

She held her jacket close to her chest and leaned her head back against the wall. She thought of Chibs, in a room above her, fighting for his life and she knew his brothers would be eager to avenge him. A culprit's name had already been tossed around...Zobelle, the same one that was responsible for torching her sister's salon. A frown creased Jaci's brow. _Zobelle...Weston...Hoover...Jenkins. _Her mind flashed to Tig and Motor beating the shit out of the Nords who had attacked her and suddenly a new connection clicked violently into place in her mind.

The rumor around town was that Jenkins had gone missing, well some said he had just blown town but others said that theory didn't make any sense do to the fact that his truck was still parked in his driveway. God bless the rumor mill of a small town otherwise Jaci would have been oblivious indefinitely. Jenkins had been missing for days...it had been days since Tig and Motor had shown up at her house at 3am. Tig had been acting extremely weird that night, something had happened. She hadn't pried, figuring it was none of her business but now...a few days after Jenkins had went missing, Chibs was blown up in the SAMCRO clubhouse parking lot. _What if? What if Tig and Motor had had something to do with Jenkins going missing? What if THAT had something to do with the car bomb? What if...?_

"Shit." Jaci muttered and covered her mouth with her hand, hating the puzzle she was pretty sure she had just correctly assembled. She stomped slowly down the rest of the stairs to the lobby level and wondered what the hell she was supposed to do with the knowledge she had just gained. As she walked to her car, she knew the answer...she'd do what you were always supposed to do with club shit you figured out...nothing. She'd just drop her sister off at the salon and go on with her life.

_**XXX**_

"Ok, that's the last of it." Rachel announced, carrying one last box into the supply room. "When do we officially open again?"

"The fliers Juice and I made on the computer say Saturday. Speaking of, are you going to see Aurora later?" Vix asked as she sliced the packing tape from the carton and began removing hair dye..

"Yeah, later...gotta finish this fuckin' Sociology paper. Why?"

"Got no wheels, J dropped me off. Was wondering if you could swing by the printers, over off Sullivan Trail?"

"Sure, no prob While we're askin' favors, mind helpin' a girl out with a survey?"

Vix shuddered, knowing she'd have that class when they started back up after the summer break. She nodded and positioned the last bottle on the shelf before turning and following Rach out of the room, flipping off light and shutting the door as she went.

Rachel grabbed her school bag and sat down in one of two massage chairs that made up the pedicure station. In cost cutting efforts for the salon re-openin, Vix had contemplated foregoing the insanely expense yet ultra luxurious 'thrones'. But as she now rested in one and let the gentle heat and massage work its magic on her aching back, she was extremely happy she'd not been cheap-ass.

"Ok, now answer each question IN DEPTH with your gut response, 'kay?" Rachel instructed and after seeing Vix nod, she started. "Would you ever date a man who had a history of being less than open in his intimate relationships?"

"Yes!" Vix said with a laugh then stopped. "Wait, when you say _less than open_ do you mean would I date a liar? Cause, shit… I don't think I've ever dated anyone who wasn't deceitful in some way. I mean I wouldn't be with anyone who tortured small animals or conned old ladies outta their life savings or nothing, but sexy liars? Sure, why not? I tend to go for charming bullshitters."

They both startled a bit at a loud rap against the front door of the salon. Rachel laughed "His timing is oddly impeccable."

Vix rolled her eyes and added her laughter as she cut a line across the salon to the door. "Hey, baby. Thought you were gonna be all day at TM."

She stepped aside as Juice breezed through the door.. "Unser made me leave before Lodi CSI arrested me or both of us. CSI peeps are so much nicer on TV. Give me Grissom from Vegas or shit even that red-headed douche bag from down in Miami. At least they are cool. The two that showed up at TM were complete A-holes, man. CAPITAL A." He nodded over at Rachel, "Hey, Rach."

"Hey Juice... um, Vix I gotta split. I'll text you the other rest of the questions, shoot me back the answers, kay? I'll hit up the printers for the fliers."

"Thanks, chica." She wandered over and hugged an agitated looking Juice. "How can I make it better, baby?"

_**XXX**_

The sound of a group of Harleys pulling up out front caught their attention. Vix stilled, mid-downward thrust. Underneath her, seated in her desk chair, Juice bucked his hips upward forcefully, "Almost there baby, don't stop... come on." His words came out a mixture of pleading and harsh demand.

She felt his hands on her hips, urging her undulations as she slid up and down the length of his cock. She could feel his shoulder muscles bunching up underneath her fingers, as his whole body tensed. Vix gritted her teeth as she rode him, bucking her hips and grinding against him, intensifying the friction. It was a contest now to see which one could get the other off first. As she concentrated on squeezing her inner muscles, Juice lost all ability to communicate in other than harsh gutteral sounds and she was certain she would win but suddenly he pulled an illegal move. He bit down on her nipple, his teeth delivering some serious pain but the shock was such that it shot Vix right over the edge. She shuddered from head to toe, rocking with pleasure, a stream of profanity spewing from her lips. Though Vix had beaten him to it, Juice was right on her tail. His fingers dug into her hips, sure to leave bruises. He bucked up into her, his loud groan of pleasure drown out against the flesh of her chest as he pulled her forward against him and buried his face between her tits. They clung to each other for a few moments, exchanging shaky sighs and sated smiles as their pulses settled back down and their breathing returned to normal.

The muffled noise of what sounded like shattering glass filtered up to them "What the fuck was that?" Juice's attention diverted from fixing his belt buckle. "Shit." He mumbled as he suddenly remembered the rumble of the bikes that had been forgotten in post-coital memory lapse. He rushed through the office door tugging his shirt over his head, clutching his cut in his one hand.

Vix quickly re-clothed herself in her yellow sundress and watched him descend the stairs two at a time. Disregarding her chunky black boots, she slammed her feet in a pair of flip flops and raced down the stairs.

Across the street, a line of Harleys was parked in front of Impeccable Smokes. A handful of back patches met Vix's eyes, forming a solid wall along the sidewalk outside the cigar shop. Snatching up her sunglasses off the counter, Vix darted across the street. She saw Hap glance back and nod at her with a twisted grin. Tig managed to toss her a smug smirk. She walked up and stood between the Nomad Son and Juice, watching with the others as Clay trashed the inside of Zobelle's shop and couldn't stop the huge grin from spreading over her face.

_**XXX**_

"It's password protected… can't get it." Happy advised walking into the hair salon with Juice and Vix, motioning towards Weston's lap top that he had retrieved from the saddle bag of his bike. The laptop was the one gain from the confrontation between the Sons and Weston's kids earlier that day.

"Let me see it." Juice motioned for Hap to hand it over.

Vix locked the door behind her and closed the blinds along the front window of the salon. She turned around and watched Juice and Hap checking out the pilfered laptop.

"Just knowing that evil racist asshole touched that thing makes me not want it in my salon. Here let me get you some gloves, 'for you touch the keys, baby."

Hap chuckled as Vix disappeared into the supply closet, "I think she's serious."

"I KNOW she is." Juice replied

_**XXX**_

Hap glanced at the stairs. Juice had retreated up to the office to work his magic. "Hackin' shit always take this long?"

Vix shrugged, "I guess... Juicey guards club intel behind layers of firewalls and techie stuff I cant begin to understand. I guess it depends on how smart the person is and how badly they want to hide their shit." She paused for a minute and considered the Nomad before her. "Hey, Hap…would you mind doin' me …"

Her words were cut off at an unfortunate juncture by a loud crash followed by an equally loud stream of Spanish cuss words coming from up the stairs. Standing up out of the chair at her station, she walked to the base of the stairs, "Juice?"

"Everything is FINE, Vix!" Came a less-than-sincere sounding reply. Shrugging, she turned back towards her chair only to find Hap staring intently at her. "What?"

"You were sayin'?"

"Oh! I have this project and I need to ask three people questions and Bobby and Jax helped so I was hoping you wouldn't mind. All you gotta do is look at these ink blots and tell me what you see, like the first thing that pops into your head."

"Do I gotta give my name?"

"No, you can work under an alias if you wanna."

"Ok." Hap replied with a nod.

"Really?" Vix grinned. "Ok… let me grab my stuff." She gathered the supplies out of her bag and sat the first picture out for Hap to see. "Ok, just tell me what you see."

He studied the image. "It looks like my belt buckle."

While her mouth asked "Excuse me?" Vix's eyes dipped down to Haps' waist. She laughed, "Yeah, it sorta does. The other guys saw a dude riding straight at them on a Harley with ape-hangers. Jax went so far to mention that the kick-stand was down and so the dude must be a dumbass." She shook her head and laid out the next image.

Hap sorta made a disgusted face and a growling sound after a moment, "What was that story about the little dude who pulled the sword out of some rock?"

"King Arthur?" Vix offered, she'd literally only knew that because Kenny Winston was doing a book report on the _Sword in the Stone_.

Hap nodded, "That's it… this right here. The top part? That's the hilt. Then the blade, and the blob thing that looks like a bear skin rug could be a stone? Hmmm?"

"I don't think there are any wrong answers, Hap. Everybody just sees what they see."

"What'd Bobby see?"

"I can't say…but he has an obvious fascination with food. Ok, here's number three."

"What the fuck is that shit?" Hap asked with a squint. "Damn that looks like some kinda fuckin' Indian rain dance, with the little drums and shit." He shrugged. "Maybe you should ask somebody else. My answers are stupid."

"Just one more to go, please!"

Hap grumbled but glanced at the fourth and final ink blot image. He contemplated what he saw, cocked his head and looked at it from a different angle. "Baby elephants."

"What?" Vix's eyebrows sprang up her forehead.

Hap shrugged, "Baby elephants. probably African since the ears are so big but just babies because they don't have tusks. Look at it, Vix". He pointed at the image. "See, they're touching trunks together in the middle...which is kinda gay. But they are. I dunno what the red shit is. Birds maybe. Flowers? Maybe they're eating the flowers. Yeah...that's what it is. They're reaching up to snag the flowers and eat 'em."

Vix stared over her notebook at the badass killer seated across from her. _Baby Elephants? _

"We're In!" Juice's suddenly announced, causing her to jump. She looked over to where he stood at the bottom on the stairs holding Weston's lap top, "I found his appointment planner."

**XXX**

_She can be the one, she can be the angel_

_She can get me high, she can be my savior_

_If the right one came along, God knows I'd do her wrong  
~ Do her wrong, Atom Smash_

Jaci stirred the pot of near boiling liquid that sat cooking on the stove in Tig's kitchen. After the potential revelation she had come to earlier in the day concerning Jenks, she had thought about canceling the little dinner surprise but she had wanted to do something nice for Tig. With Chibs being hurt so violently, tensions within the club were high and everyone was stressed. The guys had all been running ragged trying to get a bead on LOAN. She was hoping to get Tig to relax, if only just for a moment. Besides that, he couldn't go on living off cigarettes, coffee and beer much longer.

She had decided to keep her suspicions to herself for now and just focus on having a quiet night. Tig was running really late but that was fine. She had spent over an hour and a half cleaning his house so she was behind as well. He would have never asked her to clean up but she had taken on the task for two reasons...one, it desperately needed to be done and two, cleaning relaxed her, gave her focus.

Now she was in the middle of making chicken and dumplings. The broth mixture was simmering and smelling great. She had just put the finishing touches on the dough when she heard the key rattle in the the back door. Tig stepped into the kitchen with a frown on his face, "Why you here?"

"Just being nice…knew you've been swamped. Thought I'd help out?" Jaci replied with a slight smile. When his facial expression didn't move off of _annoyed_ she dropped her smile. "I thought we were making an effort this time around…this is my effort." More over she was thinking, _if you didn't want me to USE your house key, you shouldn't have given me one._

His response was a grumble, "I got whackjobs blowing up Sons and you think its a good idea to hang out in my house...real smart." He stomped through the kitchen and headed down the hall, hollering over his shoulder, "You went to a lot of trouble for nothing…I'm leavin' out of here in five minutes."

Jaci frowned, a bit stunned by his sudden appearance and then immediate DIS-appearance. Her head turned on a swivel trying to keep up with him. At the sink, she quickly scrubbed the flour that had matted to her hands and then hurried down the hall after Tig. When she reached the doorway of his bedroom, he already had a duffel bag on the bed and was changing out of his clothes. He pulled on a fresh black t-shirt as she asked, "What's going on?"

He shot her a look that said y_ou know better to ask questions_ and went back to searching for something in the closet. She watched him and tried to gauge his mood…definitely agitated. She noticed that his cut laid on the bed and as soon as she saw him yank a dark blue sweatshirt off a hanger, she knew something _shady_ was going down.

He pulled the sweatshirt over his head and locked eyes with hers. He studied her for a moment, letting go temporarily of the annoyance of finding her in his house uninvited. A predator's smile finally spread across his face. "Fuck it...I'll tell you what's up. Tonight's the night...those LOAN motherfuckers are getting what's coming to them." He looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to smile and say 'really?' Instead she frowned.

"What're you talking about? What're you doing?"

Tig broke a cardinal rule and told exactly what was going on. "Zobelle...Weston, they've been holed up since they blew Chibs up but we found them. Got 'em nailed down to an exact time, exact fucking location. Tonight, we're taking those motherfuckers OUT. Gonna be like shooting fish in a goddamn barrel." He explained with a sinister laugh.

"For them or for you?" Jaci replied. She had a very bad feeling about the picture Tig was painting for her at the moment. "They fall off the face of the Earth and now they're just suddenly BACK? Isn't that a little too easy?"

"God, you sound like Jax." He muttered and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it is too easy...cause they're fuckin' stupid. They fucked up, left this info just _laying_ out there. We're gonna settle the score on a whole lot of shit...Chibs getting hurt, them blowing up your salon, all the threats against the club, all of it. They're gonna fucking pay." He gave her a long look. "I thought you'd be a little more excited about this." Actually, he had expected her to pretty much be a goddamn cheerleader on the matter.

"Excited? Why would I be excited about you getting hurt?"

"Nobody's getting hurt."

Jaci shook her head, her logical cautious mind told her something was wrong; the guys were rushing into the retaliation too quickly. "Tig, this isn't a good idea. Can't you wait? Like really check things out? These guys aren't stupid."

"And SAMCRO is?" Tig shot back. He had expected her to be completely supportive and here she was waffling. He stopped what he was doing and glared at her.

"No! I'm not saying the club is stupid for going after them...it's just...I just think you should wait." Jaci swallowed hard. "Maybe try a different approach or something."

"Different approach?" Tig repeated, his tone nasty. "Like maybe we ask 'em to apologize and then we hug and make like best friends? Those fuckers are kickin' a hole in us left and right. We shut them down, end of story." "

She sighed, he was missing the point completely and suddenly she thought about Jenkins and what she believed really happened to him. Now wasn't the time to discuss it but the knowledge shaped her next comment. "When does it end, Tig? Uh? They hit you, you hit them ...tit for tat, back and forth. Who wins like that? When's it ever stop?"

Tig ignored her and focused on loading up his duffel as his mind raced. _How the fuck can she question this? _This was NOT the way he had pictured it, not the way it was supposed to go. He was taking these assholes out for _her_ just as much as for Chibs and the Club. For God sake's, he'd KILLED for her just the other night, granted she didn't KNOW that but how could she balk at getting back at LOAN, it was a no-brainer. He was flat out stunned and that surprise turned very quickly to embarrassment. The little devil inside started laughing at him, '_H__ahaha you fuckin' idiot! She's not your saving grace you moron...she can't even side with you for something as simple as THIS. Try telling her you murdered Donna by accident and see how understanding she is. You are FUCKED!'_

"Tig, look...I just don't want you guys getting hurt." Jaci ventured, seeing that his body language had taken a turn for the worse. Gone was the excited vibe from earlier, he was pissed now. "Please...just stop and think about this."

"The fuck's wrong with you?" Tig spat. "I bet your sister's showing a shit load more support about this than you are."

Jaci rolled her eyes. "Of course Vix's more supportive… she's hard core, balls to the wall, eyes wide SHUT when it comes to her support, but you know that leaves little room for THINKING."

"Were you THINKING when you fucked with that porn bitch for talking shit to you?" Tig shot back. "Such a fuckin' hypocrite. You're all about the revenge as long as the risk is small and won't blow back on you, right?"

"We fucked with her SHAMPOO, Tig. We weren't going to KILL HER. Bit of a HUGE fucking difference there."

"Exactly...the punishment fit the crime. Jaci, these assholes tried to blow your sister up. They set off a goddamn car bomb in the middle of our parking lot. Chibs is lucky to be alive. What if that had been me in the fuckin' van? Huh? I got blown to goddamn kingcome...would you still be pussy footing around on this?"

"YES!" Jaci exclaimed. "I hate that anyone got hurt...but we don't need to add to the body count."

The devil inside him continued to pick at him, making fun at him forever thinking he could get support from a WOMAN. Who the hell was he trying to fool? First she just shows up uninvited to his house, cooking and cleaning, playing house and shit, probably went through all his stuff snooping and now she's trying to tell the club how to handle their business…invasive much? Tig held up a shaky hand. "I can't deal with your shit right now; I got a brother to help. Club comes FIRST, you know that, it's not up for discussion. Deal with it or walk."

"You can't bail every time you don't like what I say, Tig. It doesn't work like that!" Jaci snapped, irritated at his sudden descent into full CLUB MODE, which meant his brain was shutting off. "Would you just listen to me? I just don't want you ending up in jail or worse."

"Nobody's going to jail!" Tig screamed and threw his duffel on the bed and started to pace. He ran his hands over his face. "Jesus, just know your place and fall in line on this. Back off!"

"Know my place?" Jaci shook her head in frustration and tried to squelch the feminist fury that blossomed inside of her. "Ok, fine...I think _my place _is two steps behind you, watching your goddamn back. How's that grab you? And I care enough to tell you when you're WRONG and not just nod along like a mindless idiot yes man."

"The club didn't even have to vote on this shit. It's a no brainer."

"Yeah, well...you ever heard of mass hysteria?" She asked. "Think about it, sometimes the path of least resistance is less resistant because it's been greased, it leads to a set up... a trap. I'm just trying to protect you."

"Don't fuckin' talk to me about protection!" He screamed and pictured ramming a knife through both of Jenkins' eyes. "You ungrateful fuckin' bitch. Goddamnit!" He glared at her for a second. _You're supposed to be different...you're supposed to have my back, not be second guessing my every goddamn move. _Disappointment bubbled to the surface and he suddenly yelled, "Are you fuckin' kidding me?"

Jaci froze at his sudden anger. She had no clue why he was so furious. She just wanted to protect him, to make him stop and think but he wouldn't listen to her, wouldn't let her explain. He was pacing and mumbling and not making any sense. "Tig...I..."

"Are you with me or against me?" Tig asked, obviously struggling to maintain control over his voice. His jaw clenched and his blue eyes bored a hole into hers. In his mind, he pleaded with her to give the right answer.

"God, how did we get to this?" Jaci shot back in return. "Two nights ago you're begging me to tell you I love you and now I'm AGAINST you just because I don't agree with you? Tig, I don't understand..."

Embarrassment rushed over him..._you begged me to tell you I loved you. _Tig suddenly felt like an idiot for running to her that night, felt stupid for going after Jenks...she was supposed to be worth it. _Is she worth it now? Standing there talking shit to you...is she worth it? _Tig saw red and picked up the bedside lamp and threw it before he even realized what he was doing. The lamp slammed into the wall next to Jaci's head and shattered. She let out a scream of surprise and threw her hands up in an attempt to shield herself.

"Shut the fuck up!" He seethed. He started to take a step toward her but stopped himself. He pointed a finger at her. "Do yourself a favor and don't say another fucking word." His glare and voice were both ice cold and Jaci stood completely still, knowing better than to push it with him. He kept his finger held out for a long moment, his jaw flexed and his breath was ragged.

He looked like he wanted to punch her. She kept her eyes on him and tried to stare hard enough to get past the psycho on the surface but at the same time she was calculating the distance to the door in case she changed her mind and wanted to run...or needed to. She started an internal move to chill the fuck out. _Jesus Christ...ok, ok. Stay calm...you stay calm and he'll calm down. You just hit a nerve somehow...everybody's upset. Everybody's scared and on edge. Just calm down. _

Tig finally broke eye contact. He threw a few remaining items in the duffel and zipped it closed. He grabbed his bag and his cut and stared down at the bed. He took a breath, "We're done."

"Tig..."

"SHUT UP!" He yelled. "Shut up and fuckin' LISTEN. I don't need this bullshit! You and me, we're fuckin' done...you can't support me, this club...your ass is gone. I should have known better. You're just like everybody else...when it comes down to it...you're full of shit."

"Stop and THINK about this." Jaci pleaded. "Don't pull this knee jerk bullshit again."

"Fuck that...you think about it." He seethed and pushed past her out of the bedroom. As he stalked down the hall, he yelled over his shoulder, "And get the fuck out of my house!"

The back door slammed a few seconds later and Jaci finally blinked, forcing herself to walk down the hallway. _What the fuck just happened? _She tried to steady her breathing. They had fought before but he had scared the shit out of her by throwing the lamp. She could take a lot of crap but he was goddamn unstable and suddenly she was second guessing ever thinking they could work out. Hell, she didn't have to second guess it; he had done it for them.

As she walked into the kitchen, she frowned and felt her fear morph into anger. She completely understood he was mad about Chibs, he was upset, scared even. She got that...but how the fuck could he doubt HER, to think she was against him...against the club? Fuck him for questioning her loyalty. All she wanted him to do was THINK and he was too goddamn stupid, too goddamn macho to do it. She shook her head and threw the towel she had been holding toward the sink. "Fuck this." She spat. Being with Tig was a goddamn rollercoaster and she was tired of it and she be damned if she was going to put up with him throwing shit at her. What if he threw a fist next time instead of a lamp?

She stalked to the stove and twisted the burner knob to off. Tears suddenly stung her eyes...but they weren't from sadness like in the past. These were tears of anger...of frustration. No matter how much progress they made, there was always a brick fucking wall that they'd slam into. Nothing ever changed, nothing ever really got better...they just limped along in some goddamn delusional state until reality bitch slapped them again.

She grabbed the bag of flour on the counter and furiously started to fold down the top of the bag. "Fuckin' asshole! Goddamnit!" She hefted the bag in her hand and then turned and launched it across the kitchen. It slammed into the wall of cabinets and white powder exploded, saturating the air. "You're not the only one that can throw shit!" She yelled to the empty house. She watched the flour settle onto the cabinets, the floor, pretty much everywhere.

With her hands held to her head, she sucked in deep breaths, her biceps aching in that weird way they did when her blood pressure spiked. She resisted the urge to go and pour bleach over all his clothes that she had washed that afternoon. That wouldn't phase him though, he'd just be pissed. Tig needed to be taught a lesson and she was pretty sure his actions with the club that night would do it. There was no way their little plan could end well. She just prayed the lesson didn't last twenty five years to life.

Jaci grabbed her purse from off the back of a kitchen chair and walked out of the back door, slamming it behind her. _Let him fuckin' clean up the mess. _

_**XXX**_

Tig rolled up a little late to the staging area. Luckily Op had been running behind too but due to getting his kids straightened out for the night, not getting into a screaming match and then dumping his girlfriend. They parked their bikes and walked to where the others stood around the back of the van, waiting.

As they went over a rough plan of attack, Jax finally spoke up, letting them all know that the church wasn't just filled with a handful of thugs…it was a full on AB membership rally.

"How do you know this?" Tig asked with a frown.

"Hale…he grilled Zobelle's daughter, she told him. He's got deputies on the way." Jax replied coolly. "We do this, we all go to jail."

Tig couldn't help but smirk at his VP, the jail warning rang a sensitive bell. "You really did marry the wrong Parker sister, man. You and Jaci are totally in-synch with which side of the fence you're on at any given moment. What do you do, like call each other every morning? Text message?" Tig took his voice an octave higher. _"Ok, it's Tuesday, let's swing far right today, Jackson."_ He snorted a laugh as his brothers look at him in confusion wondering what the fuck he was talking about. "'The two of you THINK so damn much you can't even FUNCTION."

Jax glared at him. "Well, I sure as shit turned my brain off TONIGHT and look where we are."

"Oh for Christ's sake, shut up." Clay seethed.

The young VP glared at his step-father. "This is what YOU wanted...fuckin' happy now?"

Clay ignored the question and dug into the back of the van. "AKs and shotguns…let's go."

_**XXX**_

The LOAN gathering at the Morada Christian Center had been a complete and utter fucking set up. There were no angry-gun toting AB sign ups inside, only families enjoying a fellowship dinner. The Sons stormed the event and stood down once they saw the attendees but Weston let a few bullets fly and started a panic. Families rushed from the building screaming as sheriffs arrived on the scene. The Sons tried to make a run for it out of the church but were quickly surrounded by cops with only Opie getting free.

As the guys layed on the grass in cuffs, waiting to be hauled away to jail, Tig spoke in a strong whisper. "Hey, Juice…how pissed you think Vix is gonna be when she finds out her bro-in-law got her man locked up?"

"I told all of you the cops were coming, said if we do this we ALL GO TO JAIL." Jax interjected with a hiss. "You wanna play the blame game, fine…but you cut the deck right."

The cops hauled all of them to their feet and loaded them into the police van.

Bobby sighed. "Too bad we rushed 'Bama home?"

"Why? So there'd be more of us in here to bail out?" Clay smirked.

"Hogan might make for amusing company in jail." Bobby retorted.

Tig snorted. "Yeah, Hogan could give us a lecture us on the evils of raiding a church." Hap smiled slightly. Tig sighed and shook his head. "Well, Hap...prepare to suck the cock of Karma." Hap shook his head. "This boy don't suck cock." 


	23. Chapter 20 Own Worst Enemy

**Walk Away from the Son****  
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SoA  
****Chapter 20- Own Worst Enemy**

**By BG and Reaper**

_~Sorry that it took so long for an update. This chapter pushed us to our limits for some reason. We loved it, hated it, laughed, cried and damn near threw in the towel on the whole damn story! We hope this chapter was worth the wait and we promise the next chapters will roll out a little faster!_

_**XXX **_

Jaci parked her car in the Teller Morrow lot and headed toward the garage office. Since most of the crew had been arrested the night before, Gemma had called an emergency meeting of the Estrogen Brigade. She made it a few feet before a loud whistle stopped her in her tracks. She looked back over her shoulder to see Opie standing outside the club house, he waved her in his direction. As she walked over, he nodded toward the door behind him. "Everybody's already inside...you're late."

She shrugged, giving off a lackadaisical vibe, wasn't rushed or frantic at all like the other women had been. Crossing her arms, she asked, "You were with them last night?"

Op nodded. "Gemma tell you what happened when she called?"

"I didn't ask." Jaci replied and again the slightest bit of a flippant attitude showed through. "Didn't really matter...getting the scoop wasn't going to change the outcome you know?"

He looked her over and finally nailed the emotion, she seemed more annoyed than concerned. She sighed as curiosity finally got the better of her. "So what happened? Tig said it was going to be a cake walk."

Op gave the short version of the disaster. "Once Weston popped those shots, we knew we were fucked. Jax yelled get out and it was a free for all. I had a bead on the fuckers, ran out the back, closest door. They all went out the front I guess." He got quiet for a moment, face etched with worry. "I took off cause I didn't want Zobelle getting away. I thought the guys would be right behind me, that they'd catch up. I would have never left if they..." His voice trailed off.

Jaci hated the guilt that poured off of him. "It's ok."

"No its not, J. I _left_ them...that's not fuckin' ok. That's how I ended up in the pen for five years, I got LEFT. A brother bailed and I got left holding the goddamn bag."

"You didn't BAIL, Op. You were going after the…_target _or whatever; the guys know that. They wouldn't think for a second that you bailed on them." She waved her hand, dismissing him. "It doesn't matter, Op. Last night was a HUGE fucking bad idea. The whole thing never should have happened; no way it was going to end good." Jaci countered. Op shook his head and held his hands up to hold his head in frustration. He quickly winced and dropped his arms back to his sides. She caught the wince. "You ok?"

"I smacked a car getting away." He answered as he rubbed his chest gently, remembering Weston's goddamn Bronco cutting him off, causing him to temporarily lose sight of the road and end up ramming into the back of a parked car.

"Break anything?" She asked. When he only shrugged she motioned for him to pull up his shirt. "Let's see."

Op complied and his tattooed chest showed a solid strip of bruise. "Jesus, looks like you ate a bumper. You need Tara to check you out?"

"Broke or not, I ain't going anywhere so it doesn't matter." He replied.

Jaci snorted a sad laugh. "Yeah, I know the feeling." She patted his shoulder gently and then walked on into the clubhouse.

_**XXX**_

As the guys worked on gaining protection inside the county jail walls, the SAMCRO women were working just as hard on getting them freed from said walls. The clubhouse was eerily quiet from missing the bulk of its members. The women gathered around, grabbing seats on the battered sofa and chairs as they waited on Rosen to show up with the first bit of news concerning the guys.

Gemma and Vix chain smoked as Jaci and Tara remained quiet and mostly stared at each other or the coffee table. "I can't believe this is happening." Gemma said distractedly she tapped ashes into an ashtray.

"I can." Jaci deadpanned. "They crashed into a church full of people wielding weapons, were you expecting them to get a pat on the back? This was a textbook setup and they fell for it."

Before Gemma could pair words to the disbelief on her face from Jaci's harsh words, Vix cleared her throat. "J, you might wanna just tell them. It'd help explain your attitude."

The women all looked at Jaci who rolled her eyes. "Got into a screaming match about this retaliation shit with Tig last night. I told him to wait, told him I thought it was a setup. He completely lost it, said some horrible shit, dumped my ass _again_. So forgive me if I'm a little bitchy this morning."

"He didn't mean a word of it." Gemma said without a moment's hesitation. "The guys almost lost a brother; they're stressed, not thinking straight. They're doing the best they can to hold everything together. Now they've landed in hot water and we've gotta get them out of it. Get them back home so they can settle down." She gave Jaci a soft look. "That shit with Tig is temporary…all of this shit is."

Jaci shrugged but even if she pulled Tig out of the equation, she still had reason to be helping plot the jail release. She loved all the guys that were locked up, didn't want to see any of them hurt…even if they were impulsive idiots. The guys had helped them more than once; the Parkers owed them a debt even if you stripped all the personal connections away. Gemma and Tara might be here purely out of love but Jaci knew herself and Vix had a good slice of guilt fueling their commitment to help, Vix for the fight with Polly and Jaci for the theory that Tig had killed Jenks in some weird form of payback for her.

_**XXX**_

Rosen arrived a few minutes later. He laid out the harsh realities of the guys' situation. He watched with unease as all the women processed the information.

"They're jammin' us." Gemma said with frustration. "Seven figure bail, no court date. They got no protection in there, Rosen. We don't get them out, they may not make it out period."

"What about a bails bondman?" Tara asked.

Rosen did some quick math in his head. "The total bail, at 10%...you'd need $300,000."

"This fuckin' sucks. I ain't got shit to pony up…no equity in Twisted, Juice and I live on Ruby's good graces " Vix rubbed her temples. "Christ I'm glad she and The Olds are outta town. She'd be having a heart attack over this shit."

"I wish she was here, she could put up the apartments." Gemma quipped but then cocked an eyebrow in complete seriousness. "Could she post her building by proxy?"

"I'd have to do some research on that. " Rosen advised.

"You know how hard it is to get in touch with her?" Vix replied with concern. "I can try but only if find out she can post it. I'm not giving the poor woman a stroke in the middle of the Mediterranean unless it's a sure thing she can help. Besides, that ship-to- shore mumbo-jumbo is a goddamn spotty at best." Vix sighed, "Now if I could email… but bless their hearts, The Olds are not tech-savvy. Ruby's computer is pretty much a thousand dollar deck of cards."

"I can put up the house." Gemma commented, cutting off Vix's nervous ramble.

Tara echoed her plan. "Mine too."

Jaci surprised everyone by nodding along. "Yeah, mine too." She locked eyes with Gemma and the SAMCRO matriarch gave her a slight but approving nod.

"Well, that's all great…but you'd only have enough to get out Clay, maybe Jax." Rosen stated with a wince. "That's it though. This economy, house values are taking a beating. Sorry."

"Shit." Gemma shook her head. "Clay won't leave them behind."

"I'll keep you posted on anything that changes. You let me know if you find any more collateral." Rosen replied and then pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Gemma. "This is from Clay. Said you needed to get this LaRoy. I didn't see it." He warned as she took the note.

He gave Gemma a hug and Jaci stood to walk him outside. Once they were alone and walking to his car he half smiled at her. "So what are you doing here?"

"Moral support." Jaci deadpanned.

"How do you ever pass an audit?" Rosen mused with a smile. "Lying is not your thing. One does not offer to mortgage one's house purely for _moral support_. You could just be here for your sister, for Juice, and I know Jax is your brother in law and all but there's has to be something more to this."

"Is this line of musings going anywhere, Counselor?" Jaci asked.

"Well, that time I asked you out…you said you were seeing someone. I never asked who but… I've never seen you out with anyone. So either he isn't the going out type or you're ashamed of him, hiding him maybe."

"Or _maybe _we just don't go to the same places you go." She offered.

"Meaning you don't leave Charming." Rosen countered. He watched her face intently and knew he had hit a mark. He smiled slightly, enjoying the game with her. "I think you're with a Son."

"I think it doesn't matter what you think because I'm not seeing _anyone_ anymore."

"Oh, well…since it doesn't _matter_ anymore, you won't mind me trying to guess who it was. Let's put my powers of deduction to the test, shall we?" He smirked deeply at her. "We've got Clay, Jax, Bobby, Juice, Happy and Tig in the slammer." He held up six fingers as he rattled off the names. "You're not messing with Clay or Juice and Jax is with Tara, pretty solid from what I hear." He was now holding up three fingers. "So that leaves Bobby…and that's a no or at least I hope so." He was down to two fingers, a taunting peace sign. "Now we have Happy or Tig. Mmm, which psycho is it?" He cocked his head at her.

She just stared at him with her jaw clenched. "What's the point of this, Jason?"

He ignored her. "Frankly, I'm appalled at either choice given their rap sheets and unstable personality tendencies. Speaking of which, over the years, I've gotten to know these guys pretty well…at least on the surface. I know what a _normal_ interaction is with them. Most of the guys are nice…perhaps lacking sincerity but cordial, for example, Clay. Others keep their distance…I don't think Happy has ever said a word to me. And Trager…well, he's always an asshole." Rosen explained then held up a finger. "BUT…I can remember a specific instance, right after you were hired. I made an ever so slight suggestive comment about you and Trager jumped my ass. Struck me as odd and now I know why…any other woman and he would have smirked, jumped in the mix…but since it was YOU, he bristled. Why is that?" He stared at Jaci and cocked an eyebrow. "Care to confirm or deny now, Miss Parker?"

She sighed and gave up, knowing Jason wouldn't stop until she gave him a straight answer. He had just listened to her offer to put a 2nd mortgage on her house to free a group of what some would call thugs. He knew he had something with his theory. "Confirm. You're half right; I WAS with him...but not anymore. I'm just here to be supportive of the family. Happy now? Are you done?"

He pretended to think about it but then smiled. "Yeah, I'm done, just had my pride stepped on there for a moment. You wouldn't go out with ME but Tig Trager's your cup of tea…that's a little hard to take. You say you're not with him anymore…but you certainly aren't without him either or you wouldn't be here."

Jaci shrugged. "It's complicated."

"I'm sure it is." He nodded. "Speaking of complicated, even if you all do come up with the bail, YOUR favorite Son might not be leaving lock up unless I can deal with some issues up North."

"What do you mean?"

"Trager's got a warrant out of Oregon."

Jaci closed her eyes, thinking back to the night of his wreck and how a run in with bounty hunters had been mentioned. "Jesus Christ."

"I'm already looking into to. Looks like someone idiot lawyer, not yours truly, dropped the ball. I think I can fix it." Rosen commented and then gave her a long caring look. He didn't like her being involved in all of this mess. She deserved a lot better. "Well, I have to go. Just…be careful, alright? I'll let you ladies know if anything changes." She nodded and he took a chance by reaching out and pulling her into a hug. Thankfully she didn't bristle. He leaned near her ear, "You're better than all this…you know that right?" She didn't answer, just gave him a slightly embarrassed glance with those big green eyes of hers as the hug ended.

Gemma watched quietly from the ajar clubhouse door. She frowned as Rosen hugged Jaci and then took off in his car. She crossed her arms and stepped fully outside, standing in front of the door as Jaci walked back toward her. "Something I need to know about?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you're fucking our lawyer… that might be a problem."

Jaci shook her head but then was suddenly a little miffed by the accusation and the prying after what she had just offered to do for the club not five minutes earlier. "So what if I am? Then what? It obviously doesn't matter because here I am trying to bail out our guys, including my EX, from prison. Hell, if anything, you should THANK ME…I could probably get you a break on retainer fees."

Gemma fought the urge to slap her and instead just gave her an exasperated look and nodded toward the house. Everyone's nerves were fried. "Get back inside. If you were fuckin him, you wouldn't have gotten so indignant." She rolled her tongue around the inside of her jaw and stared at Jaci.

"He's just a friend, nothing to it."

"Sorry for the accusation. I just don't need any more drama…such as Tig trying to kill our lawyer in a jealous rage."

"Geez, that'd be about like him." Jaci muttered then softened. "Apology accepted, sorry to get indignant on you." She gave Gemma a long look, realizing that even though her situation might be complicated the SAMCRO matriarch's view was crystal clear…her husband and son and friends she had loved for years were locked up and in danger. Maybe it was time to can the attitude. Her and Tig's personal shit shouldn't be taking center spotlight right now. She squeezed Gemma's shoulder and her tone became serious. "Tara, Vix, and me…we're not going anywhere... no matter how complicated our situations are. We've got your back. Just hang in there…we'll get the guys out. Finance is my thing... I can find a logical solution. I did not spend four years in Accounting classes to sit here on my shapely ass and do nothing, pray for a miracle. If we don't have the money to pull this off...time to think of who does."

Gemma nodded and mulled over a few options in her head. The same candidate kept swimming to the top…Elliot Oswald. "I think I have a card to play." She said quietly and the two started to walk back inside the clubhouse.

Before they could enter, Vix walked outside and up-nodded at Gemma. "Where did he say he wanted to meet?" Gemma rattled off the name of a bar.

"Wait, where are you going?" Jaci asked her sister.

"Have a little errand to run in Oakland."

Jaci frowned and then it dawned on her…the note that needed to get to LaRoy, that was Vix's errand. Her head snapped to stare at Gemma. "Alone... you're sending my sister, _alone_? Walking into the 'hood to deliver a message and broker help from LaRoy and the Niners?."

"I got no problem with that." Vix noted as she fired up a cigarette.

"Why not call in Joliet or Rogue River? Hell, Tacoma, Indian Hills, Vegas, Fresno...some Nomad that is circlin' close to Charming." Jaci rattled off a long list of options that kept her little sister out of obvious danger.

Gemma shook her head. "Because that's not what Clay said. He said make contact with LaRoy. Those boys need protection inside."

Vix nodded her agreement. "It takes time we ain't got. The guys ain't got time for another charter to get here." She stared at her sister. "O-town is like forty five minutes away. I plan to be standing inside LaRoy's haunt in thirty with or without you. I'd prefer with."

_**XXX**_

Ten minutes later, the girls hit the road. Jaci shook her head as she stared out the passenger side window. "How does THIS make any damn sense? And why are we taking Ruby's Gran Torino?"

Vix glanced over at her sister, "Because I promised Juice's Gramma I'd take care of things while she was on her trip. So far I've killed all her house plants and accidently weed whacked her favorite rose bush - I thought it was a weed. Juice is arrested and I can't do a damn thing to get him out. Seeing that this car gets driven is about the only thing left I haven't fucked up yet."

"So you're driving a classic car into the bowels of Oakland, where _hopefully_ they'll at least wait until we've exited the vehicle before they dismantle it and tote it off to the corner chop shop?"

"Oh will you just shut up? Your logic is making my head hurt." Vix replied with a grumble. In the back seat Spawn heaved a sigh. "His too. Shit I think i missed my turn."

_**XXX**_

Vix nodded at the sign above the door, "Ebony & Ivory." She chuckled as they entered one of the more upscale haunts of Niner's top dog or should that be dawg? She mused to her sister, "I think we're about the only ivory in this place, 'cept maybe unless you count the coffee cups."

"Shhh!" Jaci hissed, straight backed and tense. "This is not the time nor place for your ..."

"My what?"  
"You know _what_. Just for the love of Pete, watch your mouth."

Vix rolled her eyes "How? Take my eyeballs out and turn 'em 'round? I'm not an idiot."

A black man roughly the size of a refrigerator sat sentry just inside the door. "Hey Bo Peep... your lost sheep ain't up in here. You best be lookin' elsewhere."

"We ain't here 'bout sheep." Vix answered while beside her Jaci groaned.

He gave a little chuckle and his whole body shook. "What is it you're after then Miss Scarlet?" The sarcasm and distain registered loudly in his tone.

She knew he was knocking her obvious Southern accent. With his Gone With the Wind reference to the best known Southern Belle, Vix regarded him, clad in the known gang color- purple. "Well, Professor Plum…" She smirked. "We have an appointment with LaRoy."

She watched the big man eye both her and Jaci with narrowed eyes. Vix felt a sudden flutter of fear. The danger in the place hung like humidity in the air before a storm, when it's not a matter of IF the sky will erupt but when and how and who will be left standing.

"Welcome to The Ghetto." Came a voice out of the darkness off to their left. Suddenly LaRoy and a gaggle of others came into view. Vix swore she heard thunder claps. "You will no doubt find yourself a minority 'round here, both in skin tone and affiliation. As such you'll understand why we feel the need for precaution."

Vix watched as LaRoy gave a small nod and suddenly two others stepped up, one behind herself and another behind her sister. He smiled. "Just a pat down. I haven't had the best luck with white folk in my establishments…ya'll tend to act the damn fool."

Jaci glanced over at her younger sister as a pair of hands roamed over each of them. _More like a feel up. _Her searcher's hands seemed to be more than pre-occupied with her breasts. Jaci clearned her throat and turned her head slightly toward the man behind her. Through clenched teeth she said, "Those are boobs, not guns…move on."

"I'm packin'." Vix announced suddenly.

"Where?" Asked a gruff voice behind her.

"Pee shooter on my ankle, .357, close to my heart."

She watched a smirky smile flash on LaRoy's face. "Princess Vanilla likes it wild, wild west style, huh? Revolver... damn girl."

Vix shrugged. "Reliable, don't jam up like automatics."

"Not as many shots though". LaRoy countered.

"Meh, figured if you can't get outta a place in six, your ass is dead anyway, right?" Vix asked with a slight smile. Jaci just shook her head. Her sister never failed to keep things interesting.

LaRoy laughed aloud. "Ain't that some damn truth." He waved off the guys doing the pat downs and nodded toward the back of the place. "Why don't you ladies follow us?"

_**XXX**_

LaRoy sat down at an empty table and leaned back in his chair, eyeing the women in front of him. "Mad props for managing to make it through the 'hood in one piece." He waved his hand to the other chairs around the table. "Sit, relax, state your business... you're in no danger whiles you in here."

"Once we step back outside though?" Jaci questioned with a half-smile.

"Once is a miracle, twice well, you're gonna get killed almost for sure." LaRoy explained. "So once we're through, I'll see you get an armed escort back to the war-zone line and you two Southern Belles can mosey on back to Mayberry."

Vix grinned at her sister but the pair remained standing. "Look, J... we done found us the one black man in this entire dumpy-ass part of town who don't hate white people."

LaRoy chuckled immediately and then ran his fingers over his lips in amusement. "Oh I didn't say I don't hate white people, I DO hate white people. Unfortunately it's still against the law to pick 'em off with a rifle like crows on a high-tension wire so's as long as poaching white folks carries a prison term, I'll restrain myself." He snapped his fingers and then added, "Unless you fuck me on a business deal. Speakin' of business, I ask again for you to state yours."

Vix took a deep breath and glanced at Jaci, who for once shrugged and gave her little sister the silent go ahead to lead the conversation. "Well, I don't know if you heard but SAMCRO is in a bit of..."

"Wait, wait." LaRoy held up a finger. "We cleared up the packin' of heat issue, but I how I know you two ain't cops or Feds or something?"

"We've got no tangible proof, only our word." Jaci interjected. "This isn't the type of relationship that advertises with business cards."

"Wait, J... I can prove association." Vix said with a grin. LaRoy and his crew eyed the crazy white chick who began unbuttoning her flannel shirt then turned and bared her shoulder tattoo. After a moment she covered back up and heard LaRoy laugh.

"Ain't that some shit! Bolts? Juice Ortiz, hmm?" LaRoy asked and up-nodded to one of his associates. "One of the daughters of the Confederacy got a thing for Puerto Rican wood." He shot a glance at his 2nd in command but the girls were non-the-wiser to it. "I'd love to know what the Klansmen in the down South think about that." He waved his hand, motioning for Vix to start her speech over, this time he wouldn't interrupt.

_**XXX**_

Later than afternoon in county lock up, Clay inched closer to his brother who were gathered around a picnic in the rec yard of the jail. "I put Opie on the tranny snitch... he's gonna get Trammel to help."

"Opie's doin' it alone?" Jax asked with concern.

"We're all a little busy here." Clay answered with a sneer. "Who the fuck do you think got the ball rollin' with our friends of color?"

Jax stood up straight and blinked incredulously. "Opie's wife got taken out in a gang-banger drive-by." He glared at his President. "You sent him on a face to face with LaRoy?"

"Nah…the Parkers took a field trip to the 'hood." Clay answered smugly, but happy to have pissed Jax off for a second.

Around the table, heads snapped to attention, even Bobby scoffed. "Are you fuckin' kidding me? Between their accents and Vix's mouth? Jesus! I can't believe LaRoy talked to them for more than a minute flat."

"This is bullshit." Jax said with an irritated shake of his head. The last thing Old Ladies needed to be doing was brokering deals with Niners. "Tap another charter."

Clay raised his eyebrows in mock thought and said sarcastically, "Maybe you could get your friend Hale to help."

"What about the other one?" Bobby interjected to get the conversation back on track instead of diverting to a pissing contest.

"He's over there in P.C….has a thing for Puerto Rican wood."

"Ooooh, Juicy bait?" Bobby smirked.

"Yeah." Tig muttered then frowned. He was having a hard time dealing with the fact that the Parkers were out on errands to free his ass. Maybe Clay didn't really mean Parkers _plural_. He couldn't imagine Jaci lifting a finger to help him at the moment. If Vix had went to LaRoy alone, his musings were all the more valid. "Does anyone else find it a little ironic that Vix had a round about hand in brokering the deal that may have her Old Man takin' one up the ass?" He paused and looked around for an answer. "Just askin' cause I find it ironic.. with a capital I."

Clay shot Tig a smirk, he very much shared the ironic view of the situation. "Set it up... I'll tell the black daddies."

Bobby rubbed his hands over his face and stared at Juice several feet away from them and oblivious to their conversation. He muttered, "How we supposed to pimp the Rican?"

"Put him in a Quinceanera gown." Tig suggested with a snort and earned a scoff of laughter from Bobby. He turned his stare to Jax. "Any ideas VP? Or you flyin' solo in here too?" He said the words he knew Clay was thinking.

Jax shook his head, hating the situation but knowing there was no way around it right now. They had to do what they had to do. "I'll try to go sell it. Make him look pretty." He nodded towards Juice who was over workin' out on the bench next to Happy.

_**XXX**_

Later that night in the county lock up, the cell verged on calm and quiet after the brutal fight between Clay and Jax; well as close to calm as it ever got in jail. Clay laid on a bunk after returning from his chat with Stahl. The bitch had them in a confined area and it looked like she was going to harass them until her black heart was content. Tig stood at the cell door, his face pressed up against the bars, his arms dangling through them. He thought briefly of how Juice was fairing after being shanked. They said he'd be ok but being stabbed hurt like a motherfucker. A better person would say he'd trade places with the kid but Tig had never been accused of being a good person.

"Do you know how many germs are crawlin' on those bars?" Bobby asked as he walked up next to his brother.

Tig snorted. "There's fifteen guys crammed in this cell, Bobby…the goddamn AIR is crawlin' with germs."

Bobby shrugged, not able to argue. He put his back to the bars and mused. "This little situation is fucked. I mean total FUBAR." A smile played on Tig's lips causing Bobby to frown. "What could you possibly be smiling about?"

"The 'I told you so' I'm gonna get from Jaci on this is gonna be huge, man. Fuckin' epic." Tig replied with a slight chuckle. "She told me not to go after them...that we'd end up in trouble."

"We did kinda screw the pooch on this we all should have THOUGHT more."

Tig nodded and then snorted, "Considering that I dumped her ass five minutes before we rolled out on this thing...yeah probably should have thought some things over."

"You dumped her?"

"Yeah...she told me to wait, to THINK...begged me actually." Tig mused, "Told her she was with me or against me. Called her an ungrateful stupid bitch or something like that and dropped her."

Bobby puts his hands on his face and mumbled, "You really are a fuckin' idiot, you know that?"

"Pretty much." Tig nodded and raised his eyebrows like he was pondering the comment as he stared across the dark jail hall. He really didn't have an argument against it. "I think we're done this time, like for reals."

"For REALS? You practicin' your Ebonics now?"

"Might need em." Tig shrugged and glanced at the other inmates sharing the same cell.

Before Bobby could comment, a guard came walking up the hall with Jax in tow. He opened the cell and pushed Jax inside then crooked a finger at Tig. "Trager right? Your turn."

Tig glanced at Jax who only gave a cold noncommittal shrug. He looked back at Clay and gave his friend an up nod then headed down the hall with the guard.

_**XXX**_

Tig stepped into the interrogation room and rolled his eyes when he saw Stahl seated at the table. She gave him a big fake smile and patted the table. "Good evening, Mr. Trager. Let's have a little chat." Clay had given up nothing and the conversation with Jax had been a bust as well. Before heading for the night, she decided to fuck with Tig Trager just for the hell of it.

He gave an annoyed sigh and plopped down in the chair. He kept his hands in laps and cocked his head as if to say _Now what?_

"I'm a little excited tonight." Stahl said with a smirk. "I've been going round and round with a puzzle in my head and I finally figured it out."

"Good for you…wanna a cookie or something?"

"Something like that. You see, I've been trying to figure out just how Jaci Parker fits into this whole SAMCRO family…besides all of the obvious links. I just _knew_ there had to be something more." Stahl pulled a photo out of a manila envelope and slid it across the table. "Turns out, the something more…is YOU."

Tig glanced down at the photo and did an Oscar worthy performance of keeping his emotions in check. Internally he was yelling SHIT, externally he only smirked as he saw the black and white proof of his relationship with Jaci. The photo had been taken over a month ago, the day he had driven her to the BBQ place in Lodi after the salon had been torched. They were standing in the parking lot by her car, he was kissing her forehead.

"I don't know how long this has been going on but I really should thank you for slipping up and showing a little PDA." Stahl watched him as he studied the photo. "EVERYONE has a weakness…if you look long enough, you'll find it. Everyone has a spot that you can pick at. Now, after seeing your psych evaluation from your little stay in Attica, some would say you're not capable of being weak or feeling love. _Some people_, like the psychologist that gave you that test, would say you're a sociopath. But this little picture here...well, it almost makes you look human." She put her elbows on the table and leaned in her direction. "Is Jaci your _spot_, Mr. Trager?"

He stared at the Federal agent blankly so she continued with her case. "Now Ms. Parker...she's a smart one...fiercely loyal but I think there might be an end to that. Unlike the rest of her family and your little clubmates, I think she's got some morals AND a brain left. Not quite sure what her fasciation is with you...maybe she likes a charity case- save the bad boy sort of thing, maybe she has some daddy issues, either way I bet there is a limit to the shit she'll put up with. And _lots_ of bad shit has been happening in her life lately. Now you're in jail, looking at some serious time…I bet she is _seriously_ re-thinking her decisions as of late. I wonder what would make her walk away..."

"You're wasting your time." Tig said flatly as he leaned back in his chair again and tried to keep his eyes off the photo. He noticed Stahl was damn near foaming at the mouth with her little discovery and he couldn't help but smirk, keeping quiet about the fact that he and Jaci had recently split again.

Stahl pretended to ignore his ambivalence and dropped the real bomb she had been holding. "I wonder...how do you think she'd feel about the fact that you killed Donna Winston?"

Tig narrowed his eyes and Stahl laughed slightly. "Oh yeah, I said it...don't think ANYONE believes that Niner drive-by bullshit story. I KNOW what Opie looked like to you and Clay Morrow. He looked like a rat and that was no accident. I bet Jaci has some doubts too about the situation...but she's too afraid to face them. Maybe while you're sitting in here, I could go have a chat with her, see what she thinks of my theory. See if she's willing to protect you or if she's more likely to hang you out to dry."

He glanced back down at the picture and tried to relive the moment, wanting to make Stahl disappear for a second. He could almost feel Jaci's face in his hands and a huge part of him wished he'd left things with her in better condition. There wasn't any real doubt about Jaci's loyalty…even with their fractured on again, off again relationship, she'd hold the line, wouldn't cave into any Fed bullshit. Then again, there really was no accounting for a woman scorned. But he wasn't worried about her rolling on the club…he was more concerned about her knowing the god awful truth about him and what he had done to Donna. There'd be no coming back from that; Jaci was a good woman and gave him a helluva lot of leeway when it came to his shitty personality and sometimes even shittier behavior but there was no overlooking the murder of an innocent Old Lady. He never wanted to see the look of utter hate and distain on her face that would come with the knowledge of what had really happened to Donna. He might be able to fix shit as it stood with Jaci right now but if Stahl pulled the stunt she was threatening, Jaci would be out of his life forever, end of story.

Stahl pulled the picture back toward her, breaking his revelry. "Now of course...I could be persuaded to leave her alone, to leave her oblivious. But if I can't talk to her, that means I'm going to need to talk to YOU. And _maybe_, if I find our conversation interesting enough, I leave her alone AND leave your little club alone. Believe it or not, there ARE bigger fish than SAMCRO that I'm looking to fry."

"Fuck off." Tig replied quietly.

"Excuse me?"

"FUCK OFF." Tig repeated and put up a hard front. His feelings for Jaci were damning, overwhelming even but as much as he felt for her, he felt more for his club. They were sitting side by side in that jail cell just like they did everything together…lived together, rode together, died together. And even though he would have cut off his right arm on the spot to keep Jaci in the dark about his awful indiscretions, he wasn't going to sacrifice his club to do it. "You want me to rat? No fuckin way. I don't have shit to say to you. And I don't have a _weak spot_ so go fuck yourself."

Stahl shook her head and made a tsking noise. "Are you sure about that?" Tig flipped her off. She sighed as she stood up, "Ok then...but don't come crying to me later, Alex. Some things can't be unsaid...ideas can't be unplanted. I could ruin everything with her."

Tig let out a full laugh. _Too late, bitch…I already did._

She didn't understand his laughter and wrote it off as a stonewalling technique. She shook off her frustration and cocked her head, deciding to get in one last dig. "I'd love to talk to Mr. Ortiz…I think he's the weak one of your locked up little bunch but I hear he's feeling a bit under the weather right now."

Tig shrugged and locked down any residual emotion the photo and conversation surrounding Jaci had brought to his surface. "Jail's a dangerous place...but you know that already right?" He locked eyes with her and put his thumb to his nose, pushing it sideways in a crude demonstration of what Otto had done to her face. His voice was cold. "I'd hate for a riot to break out while you were here. You get trapped in the wrong place...no telling what would happen to you."

Stahl smiled, playing along. "You going to unleash those sociopathic tendencies on me? That would be unfortunate." She stacked her folders neatly and gathered them in her arms. "Well, if you're not in the mood to chat, I guess we're done here." She nodded to the guard. "We're through. Have a good night, Mr. Trager…sleep tight. Hope you don't get shived."

"Fuck you." Tig replied with a grin as he was led out of the room. However, the grin fell from his face as soon as he cleared the door.

_**XXX**_

Early the next morning, Juice laid on his stomach, shacked by the ankle to the metal frame of the infirmary bed. The one window, behind a set of iron bars, was pushed ajar and he could hear birds singing outside. He laid there thinking just how incongruent that was, such a pretty sound dancing around in such a dismal place.

His hospital stay had been super brief. As soon as the doctors determined no major damage had been done to any organs and he was considered _stable_, at least physically, he was shipped back to County and dumped in the medical ward. The only soul to see him, with the exception of the staff, had been the club's attorney, Rosen. He'd come to see the _Esteemed_, but had likely felt obligated to check in on the semi-casualty. Juice didn't care one bit for the _Armani Asshole_- but he had still begged a favor. "_I need news of what happened in here steered clear of my Ol' Lady. Not a word to her sister either, Jaci will feel obligated inform Vix. There's nothing she can do for me outside, no need to freak her out with worry." _Rosen had agreed to keep the medical situation under wraps.

There was no television, no one to talk to, no noise save the birds so when the door clicked open and he heard approaching footsteps, Juice felt a weird sort of thrill. Even if it was the execution squad, at least it would be a break from the boredom. Looking back over his shoulder, he watched Agent Stahl walk into the room and his stomach wrenched at the same time his nostrils flared. His eyes took on a stoney look, "Hmm, now I see why we can't get bail or a court date."

"Missed the vital organs, you're very lucky. Dangerous times for SAMCRO, huh?"

"Ive already been shanked, bitch. Go find somebody else's life to make miserable."

"I'm more interested in this beef between Clay and Jax, I think maybe that's the reason you guys are getting hurt. Word is folks think the Reaper is coming apart at the seams."

"Only beef we got is with asshole Feds."

"Mmm hmm, okay I see. I'm wondering though, which side of this Great Divide, do your Old Lady and her 'Bama brethren fall on. At whose direction this little meeting of the minds took place?"

He watched her slip an 8x10 colored glossy out of the manilla folder on her lap and hold it up for his viewing pleasure. Juice's eyes scanned the blown up surveillance-style photo, which appeared to be taken on zoom through a chain link fence. In the photo, Vix, Nolan and Bodie stood a few feet away from Polly Zobelle and from the angle of the shot there was a barely discernable Edmund Hayes. Juice breathed ever so gently. He knew the Fed Bitch was a master manipulator and illusionist. Words could lie, be concocted into stories and spun the way you needed them to go, but it was hard to deny what was there in goddamn black and white. He without a doubt didn't truly believe that Vix was in cahoots with Polly Zobelle of all people, in any fashion. BUT, he knew she was in a scary, vulnerable place, hence his request to Rosen.

He couldn't picture Jax tasking Vix with something like this and that left Clay to be the shot caller. Could his Prez have gone behind his back and used HIS Ol' Lady as an inroad to LOAN? The King let 'Bama make back door deals with the Zobelles? Using Vix as bait? Juice's head felt ready to explode as he added to this wonder the facts that lead to his current medical condition. Clay wasn't above using Club members for bait... what was to stop him from using their Ol' Ladies. He checked his inner thoughts and instead sneered at Stahl and spat, "Bitch!"

The Fed's face took on a condescending look, "Little late for character assessments, Juicy. Best to do that _before_ you trade your kingdom for a piece of ass. Not saying Vix Parker is just any P.O.A. I bet the sex was really good."

"Yeah it IS, fuckin' fantastic… hot, unbridled, nasty." He had to stop himself from envisioning their last go round- impromptu as it was in the office at Twisted. Laying belly down, shackled to a prison's infirmary bed was no place to be poppin' a stiffy. Glancing again at Stahl, any sign of wood turned to saw dust. He sneered once more, "That _character assessment_ was of YOU." He turned away pissed and indignant.

"I see, well... you take care." She sighed and stood up exited the room.

_**XXX**_

Vix sat staring at the writing on the wall, well it wasn't technically on the wall, it was printed on a card, that was pinned a cork-board, that was hanging on the wall. _Technicality, meh_. She shrugged and reached out pulled the thumb tack from the corner of the white cardstock and sat back down again, leaning heavily against the back of her desk chair, in the office of her salon.

In call caps, block letter style, starting off hot pink and bleeding down through the words ending in deep purple. _**"To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world." ~ Unknown**_ The words made her simultaneously happy and sad. Hugging her knees to her chest, bare feet planted in front of her on the seat of the desk chair, she opened the card and was greeted by Juice's handwriting. His penmanship was neat, as opposed to her serial-killer-like scribble. His was way too neat almost to belong to a guy but he'd went to parochial school and the nuns stressed the importance of neat writing, stressed it with a big ol' ruler to the knuckles, apparently according to his childhood tales. Christ, she shuddered to think of how her pretty fingers would now look if anyone were to have stressed on hers. On the blank-inside inspirational card, he'd written words that to anyone not understanding of the way Juice's mind worked, and that club is small, would have thought inappropriate on any given day, let alone a few weeks prior, during a self-admitted dark period.

_V- I'm that 'one person'! ~JC _

_PS. Spawn and I were surfin' last night and found some pretty cool stuff by this chick named, Dorothy Parker . I don't think she's a relative of yours, but then again judging by the bad-ass attitude of her work, you never know. I found something of hers I want you to remember.. "Razors pain you; rivers are damp; acids stain you; and drugs cause cramp. Guns aren't lawful; nooses give; gas smells awful; you might as well live." _

_Don't try that shit again! _

_Who loves ya, baby? _

_Juice _

From where he lay curled up in a tight ball on his doggie bed in the corner of the office, Spawn's head shot up and he emitted a low growl. Vix wiped the rouge tears off her cheeks with the palm of her hand, glancing from Spawn to the doorway where his attention was trained. She felt a flicker of dread wash down her spine and end with an outcropping of goose bumps on her bare arms. Sliding open the top desk drawer on her left side, she pulled out her 9mm. The safety was clicked off in a split second. As she stood she popped the magazine, saw it was full and popped it back in tight. She walked barefooted out the office door and slowly down the stairs to the main floor of the salon. Across the darkness of the salon, she could see a silhouette of a person standing at the door, shadowed by the street lamps and the drawn shade on the front door. There was a heavy knock at the door and Spawn barked loudly.

From the other side of the door came a very unwelcomed voice, "Vix Parker... Agent Stahl, A.T.F. I know you're in there, I saw the Jeep, I heard the dog... open the door."

Tucking her gun in the back waist band of her jeans, Vix sighed and hit the lights before walking across the salon and opening the door. Spawn stayed at her side as Vix eyed the agent. "Guess you're the one fuckin' with bail amounts and court dates. Whatdaya want?"

"Was in the area…just came by to see the new place." Stahl explained. "Thought maybe I'd stop by some time and get a trim."

Vix crossed her under her chest and smirked. "We hairstylists own $400 scissors, could cut your lips off. Trust me- you don't want me anywhere near you with a pair."

"Are you threatening me, Miss Parker?" Stahl inquired as she stepped inside the salon.

"Just giving sound beauty advice is all." Vix spat and stood watching the federal agent bitch glance around casually.

Stahl smirked and gave a small laugh, "You know it's amazing how like a phoenix from out of the ashes, Vix Parker and her salon rise again."

'We Southerners are true to our promises. We're famous for our rising" Vix retorted with a smirk of her own. Standing with her hands on her hips, she stared at the agent. "You got a warrant? Otherwise The Go-Go's won't have a damn thing on these sealed lips"

"You know… I don't like your attitude Miss Parker."

"Nobody does. Lucky for me, I don't give a rat's ass."

Settling into the styling chair in front of Vix's station, Stahl sighed. "Oh I think at I can name at least one person who thinks you hung the moon. How's that for some Southern speak? Hmmm? Did I get the nuisance right?" She cocked an eyebrow. "I saw your newest ink acquisition when you turned around just now. The heart made outta Juicy- bolts, nice touch. And Vix~Sin with the little halo and devils tail? Yeah I saw Juice's new tattoo, also. I just left the county lock up."

"And?"

"And you seem real calm here. What's the 'Bama-ease, _widdlin' away the time_? While your old man, lies shackled to a bed in an infirmary." She watched as Vix frowned ever so slightly.

"Juice is sick?"

"What? News didn't trickle down the OMC pipeline just yet? Jean Carlos was shanked, about 36 hours ago; must have borrowed one of your notorious 9 lives though since the shiv missed all his vital organs. But he's still bleeding internally so we'll have to just wait and see how this latest blow to the club plays out."

Vix reached out to steady herself, putting a hand on the nearest solid object. The whole situation had suddenly taken on another layer of non-reality. _ Juice was shiv'd in lock up_. She felt laughter rising up into her throat…that punchy, hysterical kind of laughter that she knew if released would immediately turn into sobbing. Squashing it down, she glared at the Fed bitch and tried hard to find a hard center and cool response, "What does it mean when they fly the flag at half-staff out in front of the A.T.F. Field office in San Fran?" She watched Stahl's mouth flicker into a non-smile. Vix leveled a smirk at her, "It means, they're hiring." She nodded towards the front door of the salon, "Get Out!"

_**XXX**_

Vix sat in the office at Cara Cara and stared at Luann nervously. "I didn't know who else to come to. I'm sorry... you've been thru this kinda stuff with Otto, right?" Vix winced. "I'm sorry, I lack tact on a good day and this is so far from that... maybe Juice and I are perfect for each other."

"Yeah, you are." Luann retorted and then reached out to take a hold of Vix's shaking hands. "It's ok... she said it missed his vital organs, right?"

"If the bitch can be believed." Vix sniffled. "Said he was in the infirmary. Why ain't he at a hospital? Internal bleeding, oh god!" In her lap her cell phone buzzed and scared the crap outta her. She saw the display said _Jaci_ and answered.

"I just popped by the salon, where are you?" Jaci asked quickly. "The guys made bail. They're actually en route back home so you need to get your ass to TM."

"Juice isn't with them." Vix replied with a sniffle.

"What? What are you talking about? He didn't have any warrants…did he?"

Vix gave her the quick version of Stahl's visit. "She said he borrowed one of my nine lives, shank missed vital organs but there's still internal bleeding."

Jaci took a minute to process her sister's horrible news. Something seemed off. "That bitch loves smoke screens, Vix. Come to TM. We'll find out what really happened from the guys. Juice could be fine. Stahl would make a paper cut into a slashed artery if it got a rise outta ya. You know how she is, sis."

"No, it's serious. I remote dialed in and checked Ruby's messages. The department of corrections' been trying to get ahold of her for a day and a half, next of kin and all." Vix took a shaky, angry breath. "Why didn't Rosen tell us? Luann says the lawyer is informed and someone got word to the club. So how come I am the last to fuckin know, J?"

"Calm down, Vix. We'll figure all this out." Jaci soothed. She heard her sister talking to someone in the background. Something about making bond and county? "Who are you talking to?"

"Luann. She says once released on bond they'd likely ship Juice to county hospital. She said she'd take me."

"Likely?" Jaci squeezed the bridge of her nose in frustration, a very Tig like move that she had been doing for a year rather unconsciously. "You and Luann are gonna drive the whole way to Stockton on a _maybe_?" 

"Yes!" Vix hissed back, eager to hit the road. "I'll call you later." She hung up before her sister could say anymore. She didn't need to hear logic…at the moment all she needed was to find Juice.

_**XXX**_

Gemma, Tara and Jaci were crammed inside the office at Teller Morrow, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the guys. It was now an hour past the time they were should have been home and two of the three women were beginning to worry. Finally a sweep of headlights flooded through the office window and the women stood up, pouring out of the front door. Gemma led the way with Jaci bringing up the rear, a bit more ambivalent about the arrival. The van stopped in the middle of the parking lot and the women gave it a very wide birth.

The men piled out of the van one by one. They had all come home in one piece...except for Juice who was still laid up in the hospital but now as a free man, he had Vix by his side. Anxiety bloomed in Jaci's chest...she hadn't expected the feeling, it was purely involuntary. She wondered what would happen now. Would Tig ignore her or try to talk to her? Surely he would be surprised to see her standing in the lot. Hell, she had surprised herself by joining the waiting party. She tried to convince herself she was just there for moral support, to keep Gemma and Tara calm, to make sure her brother in law was safe, that Bobby was ok, etc etc. But she couldn't lie to herself...she wanted to see HIM and wanted him to see HER if for no other reason than to drive home the point that while he might question her loyalty to him, her loyalty to the club was solid.

Rather quickly, Jaci could tell something was wrong. While the rest of the guys stayed close together, Jax broke off from the group and stalked toward the garage by himself. None of the men paid the women any attention. For Gemma, this snub was brushed off quickly. She'd been down this same road more than once. The guys were always cranky after getting out of jail...they just needed time to cool off. Tara and Jaci weren't so understanding.

As Jax neared the women, they could see his battered face. Gemma sucked in a breath. "What happened to your face? Did the AB…."

"Oh it was a white man…but not the one you're thinking." Jax spat and kept walking. Jaci and Tara exchanged a look as Jax ignored them and kept walking.

Jaci stared toward the van again and saw Tig turn and head toward the clubhouse...he hadn't acknowledged her existence and there was no way he had MISSED seeing her. The women were in plain sight, under the glow of a security light.

_So that's how it's going to be. _Jaci thought and snorted. Deep down, if she was 100% honest, she had expected some tiny sort of acknowledgement from Tig but his snub sang out as loudly as a high volume rant followed by a proudly flown middle finger. After all she had done this week…worrying, scheming for money, working her own job and then helping out at TM, even braving the goddamn ghettos of Oakland…her payback was a cold shoulder. She knew the guys would be pissy about being locked up but given her volatile situation with Tig, he should have thrown her a bone no matter what his goddamn mood.

"Fuck this." She mumbled and took a few steps toward her car, only to have her phone ring. She pulled it from her back pocket, read the caller id and told the other women, "It's Rosen." She put the phone to her ear, "Hey Jason...yeah, they just rolled up."

Gemma mouthed something to Jaci and she relayed it to Rosen. "The girls say thank you."

"No problem." Rosen replied. He rattled off some legal info about their release and conditions then asked playfully, "So was Tig full of love and appreciation for your help?"

Jaci snorted a cold laugh and didn't censor herself as she would have under normal circumstances. "As if...he could care less. You on your way back to Oakland?"

"No...it's been a really long couple of days. I've been staying at the hotel...the one down on the Avenue, splitting time between Oakland and the jail. I think I'm staying tonight, head back in the morning."

"That's a nice place."

"It's ok." Rosen answered then cleared his throat. He had been thinking about Jaci non stop and mulling over her now _non_ relationship with Tig. And while the situation sort of scared him, it excited him more. What an ego rush to get the girl you'd been wanting anyway but with the added bonus of taking something away from TIG TRAGER. Rosen decided to go big or go home. "You know...I've got a fully stocked mini bar. You could stop by for a nightcap...if you wanna get away from all that shitfor awhile."

Jaci let Rosen's invitation hang in the air for a long moment. She stared at the closed door of the clubhouse. She hated to admit but she was deeply hurt by Tig's latest dumping of her and tonight's snub had just added insult to injury. She knew if she just waited until morning, Tig would probably come around...they might be able to talk about all the shit that had went down between them...but suddenly she didn't CARE to wait on him, What if she waited on him and he kicked her in the teeth again? Fuck that, she was done. Tig didn't give a shit about her...and maybe neither did Rosen but at the moment, at least he _wanted_ her. He was being straight forward about it and not playing some passive aggressive bullshit game about it.

"Jaci? You still there?" Rosen asked, a hint of nervousness to his voice. He thought he might have overstepped his bounds.

"Yeah, I'm here." Jaci answered and broke her stare down with the clubhouse door. "That...um...sounds pretty good. I'll see you in a bit."

"Room 234."

"Ok.'" Jaci ended the call and found Gemma and Tara staring at her. They hadn't heard the specifics but knew she was talking to ROSEN and that Jaci said _see you in a bit_. She pulled her keys from her pocket and set to disconnecting a key from the ring. She pulled it free and handed it to Gemma. "I don't need this anymore. If he acts confused, remind him the last thing he said to me was 'Get the fuck out of my house'."

"Jaci..." Gemma started to interject but the Parker sister was already walking to her car. She knew without a doubt what Jaci was about to do, she had seen the look of hurt on her face when Tig had snubbed her and headed to the clubhouse. "Jaci... THINK about what you're doing! The guys are just upset...things'll be different in the morning."

"Yeah they will." Jaci answered cryptically and kept walking, throwing a wave over her shoulder. She pulled open the driver side door and plopped inside. She fired up the engine and flipped through her iPod...looking for one song in particular that had become like an anthem for her during the last week. UN-DO IT by Carrie Underwood flooded the speakers.

_I should have known by the way you passed me by  
There was something in your eyes and it wasn't right  
I should have walked but I never had the chance  
Everything got out of hand and I let it slide_

Tara watched her friend tear out of the lot and turned to Gemma. "Shouldn't we call her? Try to stop her?"

Gemma sighed and shook her head. "She's a big girl...gotta make her own mistakes." She waited a half beat then corrected herself, "You know Jaci...she won't go through with that shit." Or at least she hoped Jaci would stop. The SAMCRO matriarch walked off to a fall back point of the garage office and waited for one of her guys to come to their senses and come talk to her.

Tara was left alone in the dark parking lot. She let out a frustrated huff and headed for her own car. She drove for home and hoped to hold Abel...maybe he was one Teller/Parker that hadn't lost his mind.

_**XXX**_

_Now I only have myself to blame for falling for your stupid games  
I wish my life could be the way it was before I saw your face_

Jaci sat in the hotel parking lot with her anthem on repeat. She grabbed her phone and turned it off, she couldn't think of a single person she cared to talk to at this moment. She was always 100% available for anyone that wanted to call her, ready to help anyone but tonight she'd had enough. She closed her eyes and recalled the image of Tig's cold look as he stepped out of the van and headed straight to the clubhouse. She gritted her teeth and punched her steering wheel, blinking back tears of frustration. Next she took a deep breath, grabbed her compact from her purse and freshened up her appearance before heading across the parking lot, the song still playing in her head.

_You stole my happy, you made me cry  
Took the lonely and took me for a ride  
And I wanna undo it  
You had my heart, now I want it back  
I'm starting to see everything you lack  
Boy, you blew it, you put me through it  
I wanna undo it_

She knocked twice on the door to room 234. Rosen pulled it open and stood smiling at her. "Hey there." She gave a sad smile and walked inside the room.

_**XXX**_

Inside the clubhouse, the only sounds were the clinking of shot glasses being grabbed, caps being popped off of beer bottles, the spin of the lid being removed from a bottle of whiskey. No one was talking but at the moment, they had a common goal…getting a goddamn drink. After all of the drama that had taken place in jail over the last couple of days, they could all use a little something to take the edge off.

Tig stood behind the bar and stared at his President and best friend on the other side. The air was thick with tension and every one stayed quiet, the same way they had during the ride from jail to Charming. A long knowing look passed between the pair. Tig downed his second shot and dropped his eyes, leaning onto the bar on his elbows. Clay's face showed the bruises of the vicious fight with Jax. Bobby had said they had needed the fight but he didn't know the depth of the anger that had been brewing for months now. Only Tig understood that a fist fight wasn't going to be enough to settle things between them.

Clay walked off to a table by himself. He wanted a few minutes of peace and quiet as he worked up to a nice buzz, then he wanted to home but he was NOT stepping foot outside of the clubhouse as long as Jax was around. He didn't want another fight right now and not because he was scared; it more so because he might kill the little fucker if he started shit up again right now.

A solo game of pool seemed like a good idea to Happy. He knew something big was brewing but figured he'd keep his Nomad ass out of it until someone asked for different. He was beginning to think of the Charming charter as his new home but that wasn't by any means official yet so he wasn't about to make waves by sticking his nose in where it might be unwanted. If anybody wanted his opinion, they'd ask for it and he'd gladly give it.

Bobby sat on a stool at one end of the bar, took a long pull from his beer and watched the other guys in the clubhouse. He had a million questions as to just what in the fuck was going on but now wasn't the time to ask them, now was a time for everyone to chill the fuck out and decompress. The shit that had gone down between Clay and Jax in jail and just before had been brutal and there was more to it than just father-son growing pains. Clay was a rash doer, Jax was a thinker and those personalities were bound to grind against each other every now and then but this situation was much bigger than that. He wanted to talk to Tig, see if he could get any insight into Clay's head cause he hadn't had any luck digging into Jax's dome. He caught the SAA's eye and raised his eyebrows but Tig just gave him a forlorn look, palmed something from behind the bar and headed out the front door.

Tig stepped outside the clubhouse and sucked in a deep breath. Inside he had suddenly got the feeling that his lungs were collapsing, he couldn't get enough air. He took another breath then a long drink from his beer and felt a little better. Outside he didn't have to deal with the looks from the other guys…the prying glances from Bobby, the cold looks from Clay, the respectfully neutral but slightly supportive nod from Hap. He climbed on top of the picnic table and sat down, firing up the joint he had grabbed from the stash behind the bar. Smoking pot probably wasn't the doctor prescribed remedy for a near panic attack but it was his way of calming down. He rubbed his face with his free hand and sighed.

Everything was falling apart. The club was getting ripped right down the middle thanks to the brilliant rash thinking of himself and Clay and it was getting worse by the day. They really had no one else to blame but themselves and Tig was honestly surprised it had taken Jax this long to blow his top. But what happened now? He had no goddamn idea how to fix shit. Clay was getting harder and harder to talk to and Jax wasn't going to be placated anymore. There had to be a way to calm shit down without the bleak truth about Donna coming to light but damn if he could see it right now.

_Donna_…his brain jerked back to that awful night and he saw the back of the truck's glass shattering. Then his memory jumped forward to sitting across from Stahl as she threatened to tell Jaci about the whole ordeal. _Jaci…_he glanced up and scanned the parking lot. The only car in the lot belonged to Gemma, the Mustang was gone and so was Tara's car. He let out a snort, chiding himself for thinking she still might be hanging around waiting for him. He should have been surprised to see her standing in the lot earlier when they rolled up from jail but he hadn't been…if he was honest, he would have laid money on her being there. Taking people for granted was bad but he did it all the time with her.

He had left things a mess with her once again and he mused on what to do about it. He could get on his bike and drive to her place right now and say he'd been a fucking idiot and hope that she'd give him a pass again but he didn't move from the table. As bad as things might be with Jaci, things were worse with his club. He couldn't leave the lot until he was sure Clay and Jax weren't going to try for a Smackdown rematch. He took another hit from the joint and settled in for sentry duty.

Twenty minutes later he heard a door open at the garage end of the lot and saw a figure with Jax's signature strut emerge. His VP crossed the lot to his bike without saying a word, fired it up and roared out of the parking lot. He saw Gemma step outside the office and he finally stood up. Leaving his empty bottle where it sat on the table, he walked back inside the clubhouse.

Clay looked up, having heard a bike exit the lot. With his SAA giving him the slightest of _all clear _nods, he stood up and headed for the door without a word. The guys remaining in the clubhouse remained silent as they heard a bike then a car leave the lot. Bobby blew out of a breath and looked at Tig. "What the hell, man?"

"Not tonight." Tig replied in an exhausted voice. "See ya tomorrow." He made the lone walk to his bike and cranked it to life. At the exit of the lot, he paused. Jaci's house was to the right, his place to the left. Too many nights of not sleeping and being on edge threatened to bring him down and the joint he had smoked had him feeling mellow. He needed to sleep and get his head straight again. _Fuck it…I'll deal with shit in the morning. _He headed left. At that point in the night, it wouldn't have really mattered…Jaci wasn't home, she was at a hotel making what some might deem a mistake. So as it usually did, taking another for granted had dire consequences.

_**XXX**_

He knew it was probably the closest he'd ever get to hearing _angel sounds _and Juice couldn't have fought back the smile that formed on his lips, even if at gun point. But he was pretty sure it sounded like Hell-in-the-hallway to whomever Vix's tirade was focused.

_'Look, I don't give a good goddamn about Hippos or whateverthefuck, just tell me which room. What? Excuse me, HIPAA, what the hell is that anyway? Oh, yeah well I don't have a whole lotta damn love for anything Federal so they can take their privacy acts and shove 'em. Oh, yeah, great. Whatever get security!"_

"VIX!" He hollered and then cleared his throat, which was dry. He took in a deep breath, which hurt like Hell and winced in pain as he yelled.

"JUICE? JUICE, WHERE ARE YOU?"

"I DON'T KNOW BABY... SOMEWHERE CLOSE, I CAN HEAR YOU!"

He heard laughing that was definitely not Vix and then Luann's voice, _"The whole friggin' hospital can hear ya both. JUICE! PRESS YOUR NURSE CALL BUTTON, IT'LL FLASH A LIGHT OUT HERE IN THE HALL, SWEETIE!"_

Juice reached over and grabbed the universal remote type thing that housed the bed controls, the TV remote and speaker, and the Nurse Call button. He depressed the red rectangle and heard a walkie-talkie-esque sound followed by a disembodied voice asking _'How can I help you?'_

"You can't." He muttered in response. Out in the hall, he heard the tell-tale slap of Vix's strappy sandals and the clickety-clack of Luann's token _fuck me _pumps, growing louder as they approached the room. A second later Vix's figure graced the doorway.

Her shocked and panicked intake of breath caused his own lungs to hurt. Her eyes, threatening to bug out of her head and welling up with tears, did a quick sweep of his body. He was arranged at a slightly awkward angle to allow for zero pressure on his wound, but at least he was not forced to lay face down.

"Oh! Jesus! Baby?" She gasped as her hands flew to cover her mouth.

Beside her Luann popped her head in the room, "Hey Sweetie." She smiled at him, "Brought your girl."

"Appreciate that… how'd you find me so fast, only been here two hours."

"Deductive reasoning." Lu advised as she nudged a transfixed Vix thru the doorway, stepped inside and closed the door behind them. He realized Luann was a veteran at this sort of thing - being the recipient of bad jailhouse news. "Stahl paid Vix a little visit at Twisted... conducting her civic duty apparently, informing the next-of-kin."

Juice nodded and ventured a smile at Vix, who'd slowly progressed to his bedside. "How you doin'?"

"ME?" She choked out along with a sob, "Why you worried about me, look at you... pale as a sheet and all stabbed and bleeding internally. Jesus, Jean!"

"Relax. sit down... before you fall down, bust your head open and wind up laid up in here too." He snickered, "That be about our luck."

Vix nodded, sniffling and pulling a chair as close to the bedside as she could, sat down and reached for his hand.

Across the room Luann smiled and nodded, "You two DO have to put the brakes on meetin' like this. First, she's held on a warrant and her appendix exploded, now you? Christ."

Behind her the room to the door opened and a nurse walked in. "Oh, excuse me. I didn't know you had visitors. Were you in need of something? You pushed the call bell." The nurse eyed Vix and Luann and then set her gaze on him.

Juice shook his head. "Nah, I'm good."

"Okay, well um, visiting hours are over for today... unless you're…" She eyed the girls again, "IMMEDIATE family?" The look on her face was priceless when he, Vix and Lu all nodded in agreement. "Okay then, you've got another hour then the patient really needs his rest." She backed out the door letting it close softly in her wake.

"If that skinny-assed bitch thinks she's gonna get me outta this room, she's got another damn thing comin'." Vix seethed.

Juice grinned. His girl had apparently moved past her shock.

~TBC


	24. Chapter 21 Cracks and Splinters

**Walk Away from the Son****  
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SoA  
****Chapter 21 Cracks and Splinters**

**By BG and Reaper**

**Note: We've stretched time – it's fiction we can do that! Also, we've been known to take some liberties (with events and characters) we've done it in the past – we'll probably do it again... it's fiction, we can do that, too!**

_**XXX**_

Jaci sat staring into the cup of coffee that had been placed before her by the diner's waitress twenty minutes ago. After leaving Rosen's hotel room, she hadn't known where to go; home felt wrong, Tig's place was a definite no- he'd smell the guilt on her and apparently they weren't on speaking terms anyway. So she had elected to just drive, finally ending up at 2am at a roadside diner that oddly sort of looked like a spaceship with the way the funky windows and outside walls met up at a weird angle. But the spaceship motif seemed ok with her, given the fact that her mind felt very _outer limits _all of a sudden. She sighed and thought about her actions earlier in the night.

The first thing Jaci had noticed about Rosen when he opened the hotel door was that he was well on his way to being drunk, she could smell the liquor. He had smiled at her, well more like _leered_ at her and stepped aside, letting her into the room. Told her to have a seat and as she walked to the small table in the middle of the room, he had locked the door behind her. Something about that lock clicking into place made her uneasy but when he asked if she wanted a drink she still nodded enthusiastically.

As he tried his bartending skills with the supply of mini liquor bottles, she had studied the back of him. Brown hair, white dress shirt that had been crisp as some point during the day but now was wrinkled and un-tucked from his black slacks. He was making small talk, carrying on about someone they knew from work but Jaci couldn't have told you what he was really saying. All she was hearing at the moment was a Charlie Brown teacher voice coming from him, 'wa-wa-wa wah.' She was too busy screaming at herself to focus on anything else.

_What the hell are you doing here? You're seriously going to do this? THIS is what you are now…some cold calculating bitch that revenge fucks? For God sakes, you wouldn't fuck Rosen when you were drunk and partying all over Oakland like there was no tomorrow but NOW its ok? He batted his eyes and was nice to you for five minutes and now HE'S what you want? You're really going to strip down and let THAT guy right there fuck you? Are you crazy? Yeah Tig stomped on you again…he's a mess of epic proportions, but you love him right? Temper, fault and all, you love him. You know he didn't mean all that shit. You are a FIXER, so go FIX SHIT, don't fucking create another goddamn problem! _

Rosen had broken her inner tirade by handing her the glass tumbler of Crown and Coke. She might have mumbled a thank you but couldn't be sure because her brain had screamed at that very second, _Jesus H Christ, Jaci….don't do this! _He had sat down on the corner of the bed across from her perch at the table and looked her over from head to toe. Sober Rosen was a semi good guy, he was funny and caring when you could catch him being sincere. Drunken Rosen was a different animal, he was forward and handsy and could be sort of mean. He downed half his fresh drink and up-nodded at her and when he said the words _Are we gonna fuck or what?, _her brain had nearly exploded. _Jaci, get the FUCK out of here NOW. You do NOT want to do this!_

She had put her drink on the table and stood up so abruptly that Rosen probably thought she was just going to rip her clothes off and jump him. Instead she had listened to her conscience that had never really steered her wrong. She had muttered a series of goodbyes, apologies and bolted to for the exit. Rosen had yelled for her to wait and something else but she missed the ending, she was too busy slamming the door behind her. Tig had hurt her enough for one evening, she wasn't about to go hurting herself more by sinking to slime levels of misplaced aggression.

She sat at the diner for another hour before dragging herself to her car and driving home. She climbed into bed at 5am, tossing and turning for two hours before heading to work.

_**XXX **_

Tig slowly opened his eyes and hated that he saw daylight. He blew out a breath and rolled over onto his back. His bed creaked and he fired an elbow into the mattress twice in frustration before rubbing his hands over his face and grunting. He mused that he could have been waking up in a much more comfortable bed than his own this morning. Jaci's bed was goddamn heaven and he missed it. After a week of sleeping on a lumpy jailhouse bunk, he should have opted for a better homecoming. He let his mind wander to thoguhts of hot makeup sex and waking up to Jaci half draped over his body but quickly squashed the image. He couldn't think about her right now. First he had to try to extinguish the fuse on the goddamn dynamite that his club had become. He rolled out of bed, intent on heading to the garage and starting damage control.

_**XXX **_

Vix woke up to the first hints of a grey dawn filtering in around the window blind. She was stretched out on a bed and tucked between Juice and something hard and cold with her head was nestled in the crook of his shoulder. She wondered if batting her eyelashes would tickle him. His arm was draped loosely across her, his hand resting on her hip. Without thinking, she reached up and ran her fingertip along his jaw line. He was sporting an outcropping of whiskers, not his normal baby-smooth face and she snuggled closer, breathing in the scent of him. Feeling his grip tighten, Vix looked up to find his eyes open. "I'm sorry." She whispered, resting her head on his chest. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"Liar." He muttered with a chuckle. "Yeah you did."

His remark caught her off guard and she popped her head back up, her blue-green stare locking with his honey-brown one. In that moment she knew he was right and Vix conceded with a nod and a smile.

She'd been momentarily been lulled into peacefulness, but when Juice reached out and pushed a flyaway strand of her hair off of her face, the IV hooked to that hand caught her attention, reminding her of the where's and how's and why's of their present situation. Her heart broke all over again, as the details came flashing back to her...

Stahl's revelation about Juice's prison shanking...

The anger and confusion that erupted at being the last one to know...

Seeking out wisdom and understanding from Luann, who'd been down this road with Otto, before and even just a few weeks prior...

The journey to get to him- a whirlwind of slow drivers, red lights, no open parking spaces, and unwilling hospital staffers...

The instant heartbreak at laying eyes on him – she hurt because he hurt...

His smile at her arrival...looking like death-warmed-over and in obvious pain, he still managed one - for her benefit...

The slow transversing of the room- arriving at his bedside- grabbing his hand- deep seeded unwillingness to relinquish that hold...

The laughability of the hospital staffers repeated insistence that she leave, '_L__et the Patient rest.' _'yeah right! Not on your life!'

His affirmation that she would be staying – that, in fact, he doubted any force on Earth could move her- that if they were so hell-bent on him resting – they should know he rests best with his woman by his side...

Luann's farewell bid and offer to keep Spawn for a few days – allowing her easier visitation and for Lu to _check out something... _

Noted hesitation to accept- until she was assured Cara Cara made strictly _human porn_... her baby may witness some action, but he himself would not be getting any... Jesus Christ and God, forbid!

Warming the chair-next-to-the-bed 'til the wee hours of the morning...

Hand holding...

Whispered, colorful truths...

Aimless staring at the TV- on low...

Dozing, here and there, both of them...

Intermittent Vitals checks – IV bags hung- pain meds administered, accompanied by acknowledging looks that screamed '_oh so you're the one.' _- Damn Right, I am!...

4-in-the-morning wake up call- blood work drawn, '_How are you feeling, sir?'_... _' Like I was stabbed!'..._

Shared look and eye rolls, _'it's reassuring to know my health is in the hands of complete morons.'_ _… 'it's NOT reassuring, it's horrible and scary!'_ _… _'_I was being sarcastic, Vix.' _… _'I know, Juice – but it's still not funny.'_...

A hand patting the bed...

An optimistic, yet worried filled and questioning glance...

An affirming head nod and another pat...

First, small smile ventured since arriving...

Standing up and gently crawling in next to him...

Drifting off to sleep, wrapped up together...

_**XXX**_

_And it's killin' me when you're away, I wanna leave and I wanna stay.  
I'm so confused, so hard to choose between the pleasure and the pain.  
And I know it's wrong, and I know its right.  
Even if I try to win the fight, my heart would overrule my mind.  
And I'm not strong enough to stay away_

_~ Not Strong Enough, Apocalyptica_

Fate had decided to play a huge ironic joke on Jaci Parker. A day after her near fall from Grace, her boss had told her she was needed in Oakland for the next few days. She had tried to weasel out of the assignment but to no avail. Now she sat in tiny O-Town office and stared at her cell phone. For the last two days, Jaci had been obsessed with her phone; looking at it constantly, poking a button every few minutes just to make sure it was still on and working. She had come to the hard realization that she had over-reacted and so had Tig. He had been upset about Chibs and focused on club things and had done what he always did in that type of situation, he shut down and ran. She could understand his reaction now because she had done something equally stupid by running to Rosen.

Both of them had felt let down and had reacted badly. The fight at Tig's house had been brutal with some harsh words being thrown around without thinking. Feelings had been stomped on but she thought they could work things out and make it right. With Chibs on the mend, everyone out of jail and ample time to have chilled out and thought things through, she had called Tig days prior. Her voicemail had been simple message of _hey, it's me- call me, we need to talk stuff over _but so far she had gotten no response.

The only person that had called her had been Vix, who left a rambling message wondering where the fuck J was, that she'd stopped by Parker Place three different times and had only run into Manny the mailman. She had went on to mention that Spawn was an apparent hit with the Porn crowd (?) Then explained that her baby was haunting the grounds at Cara Cara, hanging with Luann and the Sex Syndicate while she was splitting time between school, Twisted and Juice's hospital room. There'd been a long pause ending in a sigh and a sniffle, a cough and then _I gotta go. _

Rosen had called a few times too. She hadn't answered his calls, having no clue what to say to him and had so far succeeded in avoiding him like the Plague around the Oakland office complex.

Jaci found herself losing hope. Tig wasn't returning her call…not even to tell her to fuck off, he had meant what he had screamed at her that night at his place. She could honestly say that being ignored was worse than being yelled at, the not knowing what he was thinking was killing her. As she hoped for a call, irritation set in, here she was once again pining for him. Jaci blew out a breath and shook her head as the doubt set in. She could try to blame Tig's bad behaviors on emotional dysfunction and club problems but when did it end? Maybe she cut him too much slack, maybe he was just an asshole and she was wasting her time. What was the difference between being patient and holding out hope and just being plain pathetic? She glared at her phone again but decided against leaving another message. Enough of the voicemail, she'd just track him down once she was back on Charming turf again. They'd get to down to matters face to face.

_**XXX**_

"How you doin' today, baby?" Vix asked upon entering Juice's hospital room and setting a small potted plant on the bedside table. The place needed a dose of cheer. After getting no response, she turned and looked at him, Juice just sighed. It was never a good sign when his talkative ADHD self was in silent mode. She took stock of his appearance; he had a bit more color... but the pain had etched itself into his facial features. "Were the doctors in?" She eyed the tray of barely touched food. "You didn't eat much of your lunch..."

"Little bit." He corrected and she shot him a concerned look which he dismissed with a hand wave. "Relax... what's goin' on in your world?"

"Only had two early classes and they went good. I finished my psych paper, FINALLY! I wish Jaci was around to be my Beta-phish but she is stuck workin' in O-Town all week. Rachel had to head down to Sedona. Her brother, the only person in her whole goddamn family who'll have anything to do with her since she 'came out', broke his leg in 3 places skiing. I had two late morning appointments at the salon and I'm clear until later this afternoon. Thought I'd see you and then head over and pick up Spawn from Luann. Speaking of, I miss my four-legged baby and since I've gotta study for an exam I'm probably not gonna be over until tomorrow around lunch, that cool?"

"Yeah, life goes on outside these walls, Vee. Do whatcha gotta do, baby."

Vix frowned. "You're moody... you're never moody unless you're in pain or stressed out. You should tell these assholes to give you better pain meds."

"I'm fine!" He snapped. "What else is goin' on? You seen any of the guys?"

"Yeah, Hap stopped by Twisted while I was there, wanted an update on you. Was thinking he coulda just called but then my one appointment was that chick who he met at Big Daddy's when we all went out 'cause my boys were headed back to 'bama. Lillian? Something with an L... Loreli…Lauren?" Vix nodded and snapped her fingers. "That's it.. Lauren. Sweet girl but I got weird vibes off of 'em. If it were anyone but Happy, I'd think there was something brewin' but it also may have just been the chills, I think my spring allergies are kickin' in, I feel like shit."

Juice sighed. "You're running around like a chicken-with-no-head, Vix. Not sleepin', eating crap if you're eating at all, worried about me. You need to need to bring your nervous energy down a notch, sweetheart." He recommend with a cocked eyebrow. "And now Rachel had to head to Arizona? How you gonna manage the salon all alone?"

"We'd been worried about that, cause we're booking up. Sooo….we put an ad on line."

Juice cocked his head, "And?"

Vix smiled "OH MY GOD! You shoulda seen the chick that came into Twisted today to apply. She looked like the Bride of Frankenstein, I shit you not. First off, her hair…holy fuck it was purple. The purplely-est purple I've ever seen and shaved on the sides and she had it gelled until it stood straight up. Not like she needed to do it for the height-effect, because the girl had to be damn-near six feet tall before you factor in the hair. All together it was riveting...so much so that you almost don't notice her nose ring, chin stud, or skull & cross bones neck tat."

Juice just shook his head.

"Her name's Brittney... and I hired her immediately."

Juice choked on the sip of water he was taking from the Styrofoam cup on his over-the-bed table.

"She has absolutely no experience, just got outta the Beauty Academy two days ago... but her smile was cheery and open and honest. And I remembered being _her _just like her... well, to date I've never purple hair or a neck tattoo, but I've been caught in that fuckin' catch-22 of needin' experience to get a job but can't get experience without one. That completely blows. I did make it a probationary employment, I'm not an idiot. I just..."

"You just got a good heart."Juice offered with a smile.

"I do, don't I?" Vix grinned. "She'd mostly gonna do front end stuff and she's licensed so she can cut hair. Any walk ins or whatever that aren't too complicated. Rachel has let her regulars know and they are all understanding of the family emergency, soo…"

Inside her front jeans pocket, her cell phone began playing _The Little Old Lady From Pasadena –_ _Go Granny, Go Granny, Go Granny, Go_. "Oh Christ! Your Gram doesn't know about all this." She muttered, waving her hands to indicate his condition.

"Yeah, well keep it that way. She'd lose a few years of those she's got left, worrying."

Vix nodded as she dug her phone out, "Hey Ruby! Where in the World, are you? Oooh, Rome! Hmmm? Is Juice, alright? Sure. Why? Oh. No of course he always answers his cell phone... but he was um, riding down the I-5, listening to music on it, ya know like he does. And he hit a bump and it flew off... landed clear in the other lane... and got run over by a … bus fulla…dimwitted children … on their way to the… zoo... or something like that."

Juice sat staring at her, eyes wide, mouth agape. She held her phone between her ear and her shoulder and shrugged slightly, hands held out in a _what did you want me to say? _gesture.

"Mmm hmm, yeah I'll probably see him later, should I have him call ya? Sure I can pass on a message, what? _What?_ I beg your pardon? Yeah, can you hang on for just a minute Ruby?" Vix motioned to Juice that she'd be back in a minute and made a bee-line for the hallway. She stepped outside and shut the door behind her. "Yeah Ruby, I'm back." Taking a few strides further down the hall, into a quiet corner she cleared her throat, "Pardon my manners but what the HELL do you mean you and Henry Darling got MARRIED!"

_**XXX**_

Tig looked around the Chinese restaurant as he listened to Lin's speech about having problems with his gun supplier. "If it was the Feds that shut you down, we ain't interested."

"Wasn't ATF…INS, he's got problems getting into the country." Lin corrected and watched Clay shrug and decided to cut them off before they told him they couldn't help. Lin wasn't a stupid man, he always covered his bases and since first running into SAMCRO, he had dug up as much intel as he could using whatever tidbits of info he came across and running with them. He had found a few interesting connections while doing his homework. He up-nodded at Tig. "Your girlfriend's a lawyer, right? Or at least lunches with them? Can she help?"

The look on Tig's face should have been accompanied by a screeching halt sound byte. "The fuck you talking about?"

"Ehh, what's her name…J…Jackie?" Lin acted like he was trying really hard to remember her name, when in fact he knew exactly who she was, exactly what she did for a living and exactly where she lived.

"Jaci." Clay corrected.

Lin snapped his fingers and smiled. "Yeah, Jaci. She's in here all the time with some lawyer." Granted _all the time _was a stretch. He had seen her once with her sisters, where he had gleamed the Charming SAMCRO connection and then a few times with a large crowd of women, all professional types but Lin kept picking at the mysterious lunch date angle…he liked the way the SAMCRO SAA was obviously stewing. "I assumed they worked at the same place. Seem pretty _chummy_...matter of fact, they're in the back right now….asked for a private table."

Tig started to stand up, to immediately go see what the hell the smug Chink was talking about but Clay gave him a glare of epic proportions that soundlessly told him to _stay fuckin' put. _He cleared his throat and managed to choke out ,"She's not a lawyer" as his mind raced. _Private table? What's she doing here ALL THE TIME? Why's this fuck giving me a look like I'm a chump?_

"Oh, my bad." Lin said with a forced sincere look. "Well, what about the guy she's with? Can he help?"

"If it's the guy I'm thinking of… he's defense, not immigration." Clay said cooly. "Might be able to suggest somebody though."

As the conversation between Clay and Lin continued, Tig zoned out. He felt like he had been drop kicked in the stomach. His imagination was running wild with what little info Lin had dropped about Jaci. There had been something incriminating in his tone, like the lunches weren't innocent or something. Tig's gritted his teeth and his knee began to bounce, jiggling his wallet chain. To hear some goddamn stranger pretty much tell half his damn crew that his girl was running around on him and had been for god knows how long? He glanced over his shoulder at Happy, who stared back with just the slightest raise of his eyebrow. Half Sack gave him a wince, Opie would hardly meet his eye. Furious and embarrassed duked it out in Tig's mind for title of lead emotion. Now he looked like a sucker in front of his brothers. _Goddamnit. _

He sucked in a breath through his nostrils and tried to focus but it was a lost cause. Jaci wasn't a runaround type of girl, hell it had taken her months to sleep with him so the fact that she had might have been playing him for months made his brain seize. Jesus Christ, had she really made a complete goddamn fool out of him? He rubbed the back of his neck hard, trying to keep from doing something stupid like overturning the table. He remembered her last message on his phone, a few days ago, saying she needed to talk...was THIS what she was wanted to talk about? _Oh by the way, I've been fucking your lawyer for fuckin' ever now? _

**XXX**

Luann's call had been frantic but not specific, '_We got problems... come the fuck to Cara Cara RIGHT NOW! Please!' _As Jax and Bobby rode into the parking lot at the porn studio, they were greeted by mild-chaos. The entire crew and most of the _talent _were all milling about OUTSIDE the building with their emotional states running the gamut. The guys exchanged a worried glance and walked to where Luann stood to the side, coddling one of the girls. Lyla was her name if Jax's memory served. Opie'd mentioned she'd helped him out with a connection to aid the guys inside.

Bobby stood next to his VP, addressing Otto's old lady. "What the hell happened?"

Luann wheeled around, "Someone broke in stole our HD Camera AND my laptop. I had three rough cuts on there."

"Ok, so someone stole your shit… file an insurance claim. No one was hurt right? What's with the hysterics?" Jax asked.

Luann fixed a hardass, yet telling look on the guys, "Inside... go see for yourselves."

"Can you call Opie? I'm so freaked out…" Lyla moaned to Luann with a sniffle. The XXX Diva shot Jax a look, who conceded with a nod.

**XXX**

The meeting at Lin's restaurant concerning guns and immigration judges was nearing its end with Lin offering up a present…a token of his gratitude in the form of the familiar face, Chuckie. The weirdo's surprising appearance was the only thing that had managed to snag Tig's attention.

"Jesus Christ, man." Tig breathed as he looked with disgust from the recently de-fingered Chuckie and back to Lin.

"He can't grip it, he can't pull it." Lin justified with a shrug.

"Not interested." Clay said flatly and stood up. "We'll call ya about the judge." The rest of the SAMCRO crew fell into line behind him and headed toward the door.

As soon as Clay had dismissed the meeting, Tig had stood up from his chair so fast it toppled backwards. His mind was completely focused on getting to the back of the restaurant and whatever wait for him there. He took off walking only have to Chuckie start to panic and beg not to be left behind, that he'd end up dead if the Sons left him; he gave Tig the human equivalent of puppy dog eyes. He watched as a goon slammed a punch into the gimp's stomach, doubling him over. Tig glanced back at Lin, who was smiling. _Goddamn, that chink gets creepier every time I meet him. Fucker's not right in the head. Yeah the whackin' off was weird but how the fuck do you just cut a dude's fingers off and leave him like that? _He put his hand out to stop the goon. "Stop, stop! Wait….we'll take him." Clay turned around and gave an unbelieving stare, the SAMCRO SAA could only shrug. "He can do the books at Cara Cara…it'll free up Bobby." He looked down at Chuckie crumpled on the floor. "Come on…get up."

Chuckie rushed to the door where Opie waited. Tig and Clay trailed behind, making their way to the exit but Tig broke away at the last second, heading straight for the back dining room where Jaci was supposedly cozied up to _some lawyer_ at a private table. He stepped around the decorative screen that served as a door from the employee entrance to the diners and scanned the half-filled room. He was about to chalk Lin up as crazy when his eyes finally landed on two familiar faces.

Rosen was starting at Jaci intently as she stared down at the plates of food on the table. He had put off apologizing long enough. "Hey, look…I'm sorry again. I don't know what I was thinking calling you the other night. And that shit I said to you…never should have done it." He brushed her hand with his, making sure he had her attention. "It was a dick move."

Jaci smiled slightly, "I was a dick for showing up at all."

"Takes one to know one then right?" Rosen asked with a smile. "Seriously, you forgive me? I didn't mean to make shit weird between us. Are we cool?" Jaci nodded her head and he leaned in, kissing on the cheek. She smiled and kept looking down as she accepted his apology.

"Motherfucker." Tig breathed and stood stunned, trying to process the scene before him. Too many questions were vying for answers all at once, as if his brain was literally about to short circuit itself. He couldn't hear their conversation but it was too goddamn cozy for his liking and one thing was obvious, any friendly co-worker boundaries between Jaci and Rosen had been more than crossed. _What the … why is she…? _Tig was confused but suddenly felt the crystal clear urge to slam Rosen's head onto the table. He took a step toward the goddamn happy couple.

The first thing Jaci saw when she finally looked up was a very angry Tig about to walk toward her. Her smile slid from her face. "Shit." She hissed and froze, completely stunned to see him. The exes locked eyes and the world went silent, well except for her heartbeat pounding in her ears. _Why the fuck is HE here?_

Clay had been watching over his SAA's shoulder and followed his friend's gaze. When he realized the situation was real and about to turn nuclear, he reached out and grabbed Tig's hand, stopping him then pulling him backwards. "Not here." He whispered and pushed the ticking time bomb toward the exit.

They cleared the front door of the restaurant. Opie, Chuckie, Hap and Half Sack stood watching as Tig paced, shaking his head. "She's fuckin' Rosen. Jesus fuckin' Christ."

"Didn't see that one coming?" Clay asked sarcastically.

"Are you sure?" Half Sack asked with a slight frown, knowing better than to leapt to conclusions, the blowup between Juice and Vix over wrong assumptions about her professor had taught him that. Clay just glared at him and shook his head, a slight warning to shut the fuck up.Op was saved from the awkward situation as his phone rang and he wandered off a few feet down the sidewalk to talk. Happy watched the meltdown in silence.

Tig spat out thoughts at random. "I knew that fucker was scheming...from the day she started working there. How the fuck did Lin know that I knew…? Did you see her face? Caught red fucking handed. Motherfucking bitch!" He shook his head again and then turned, starting to head back inside.

Clay shot his arm out, blocking his path. "Whoa, where the fuck are you goin'?" Tig gave him a blank stare as if to say, _You even have to ask? _ Clay shook his head, "Uh-uh...we NEED him. Keep your hands off Rosen...you wanna ream her, fine. Be my guest but do it back on our turf. We need to keep a low profile on this Chinese shit, don't need you beating down people in the middle of the goddamn restaurant OR the parking lot."

"Ok, ok...I won't say shit to him." Tig finally held up his hands up like he was surrendering. Clay eyed him and Tig nodded his assurance as he ran his hands though his hair. "But I'm following her back."

Op returned to the group in a slight rush. "I gotta get to Cara Cara."

"Hey, you stay in touch. Gonna need you later on this shit." Clay demanded and the young biker nodded and headed toward the van.

"Hey, Op…take Chuckie with you." Tig said as he managed to check his anger to a functional level. Op glared at him. "Gone on…open the door for him."

The others climbed on their bikes, leaving Clay and Tig alone. The SAMCRO President pointed his finger at Tig. "I'm serious…hands off the lawyer. Contain your shit until you cross the Charming line."

Tig nodded and climbed on his bike, electing to move it away from the curb and deeper into a side parking lot. His hands shook as he gripped the key and then fired up his Harley.

_**XXX**_

"What was that?" Rosen asked in a panicked whisper.

Jaci's stomach clenched and she fought back the strong urge to spew her lunch in the floor. "That was us getting busted." She answered and stared at the table top.

"Busted? But we didn't do anything! Wait, you think he thinks….? Oh shit! Is he pissed?"

"Oh yeah, he's pissed. If he didn't give a shit he would have just smarted off something and kept walking. That stare, that LOOK...he's pissed." She replied and wanted to die. THIS was not the first contact she wanted with Tig after so long. She knew she was in deep shit, even though she hadn't done anything wrong with Rosen, that look on Tig's face said he THOUGHT she had and that was enough to crucify her.

Rosen threw down his napkin and glanced around the room nervously. "Shit!"

She frowned at him, not liking his reaction, like he had gotten caught doing something _illicit. _"Calm down, Jason...you got caught with ME, not some underage male prostitute."

He gave her an apologetic look, "I didn't mean it like that...I'm sorry." Jaci rolled her eyes and shook her head. He scrambled some more, "It's just...is he going to be _waiting_ outside to beat the shit out of me?"

She stared at him again. _Wow, good thing I didn't hook up with you….total goddamn pansy_. She shrugged, "I think you're safe for now. I don't know why they were here, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't for LUNCH. Just calm down...we'll give it a while and then leave."

Rosen's lawyer brain kicked back into gear. "Well it doesn't matter what he THINKS he knows, he doesn't have any evidence. We're having lunch together, big deal...we're colleagues. Just because we're sitting here together doesn't mean…"

"You kissed me in front of him!" She reminded and then frowned in disbelief. "But that's what you'd do if we HAD been together? Deny it and try to talk your way out of it?"

"If that keeps my face intact...yes!" Rosen hissed. He sighed and then tried to apologize but the damage was done

She waved him off. "Just stop talking, Jason...you're making it worse. Go pay the check and let's just go. Get whatever's waiting on us over with."

He nodded and stood up, gave her a long apologetic look then went to pay the check. He honestly liked Jaci but could now see that the thought of hooking up with her was without a doubt a bad idea. SAMCRO's account was his bread and butter, over the years defending that group of guys had been very lucrative. Now he was risking losing his contract with them, probably some teeth and most definitely some blood by messing with Jaci. It was time to stop shit before someone, mainly HIM, got hurt. She was a great catch but the baggage that came with her simply wasn't worth it.

She took a deep breath, grabbed her purse and steeled herself for whatever might come when they stepped outside. She walked to the front of the restaurant and fell into line next to Rosen as he paid.

Lin was watching her from his new position behind the front desk. He removed the toothpick he'd been chewing on and smiled at Jaci, "Sorry if I caused some sort of trouble by pointing you out to _you know who_." He winked at her, knowing full well that he caused something BIG and was pretty damn amused by it all.

"Oh, no trouble at all." Jaci gave him an obviously fake smile. "Sorry if I bleed in your parking lot."

"Hey, how are your sisters doing?" Lin asked randomly.

A second of confusion overtook her until she remembered that she and her sisters had eaten here the night they had gotten their matching Parker tattoos. She shrugged and answered, "One's in rehab, one's in college…I'll let you guess which is which." She followed Rosen to the door and stood behind him as he froze with his hand on the door. "Jesus, Jason…just open the goddamn thing." She pushed past him and stepped outside.

They both expected to see Tig standing by the door, ready to attack but instead they saw a parking lot relatively devoid of people. A few business men walked past them, heading inside but other than that the parking lot was filled only with cars. Rosen gave her an uneasy look and they headed to their vehicles. They had parked side by side and stood at their cars, driver side doors opened.

"Um…I'll call you later." Rosen said in a tone that seriously lack conviction.

"Don't bother." Jaci muttered and slammed her door shut as she sat down in her Mustang.

_**XXX**_

"Holy Fuck!" Jax muttered.

"That isn't …?" Bobby stood next to him, shocked. His shook his head slowly, mouth hanging agape. "Vix Parker is gonna lose her mind!"

Behind them, Luann made a noisy entrance, heels clicking on the concrete floor. She shuddered at the sight of Vix's beloved baby laying lifeless in front of Lyla's dressing room door. Poor dog's throat had been slashed, his blood used to send a threat to the porn starlet. "Lighting crew found him like that... called me. I had an early meeting with my distributor."

"That dog is glued to Vix's hip." Jax replied. "What the hell was he even doin' here?"

"Vix spent the night at the hospital with Juice, Jaci's been stuck in Oakland or some shit. I said I'd keep an eye on him for her. I'd been tossin' around the idea of getting guard dogs as opposed to security guard patrols...but fuck that!"

"She loves that fuckin' pooch, man." Bobby mumbled then scoffed. "Hell hath seen no fury the likes of Vix Parker when she finds out about this shit."

Jax felt both sets of eyes staring at him and groaned as he lit a cigarette. "And the blows keep comin', man."

_**XXX**_

As blindsided and upset as she was after the Chinese restaurant showdown, Jaci seriously contemplated grabbing a hotel room and hiding out alone in Oakland for the night but she knew she couldn't. She had told Gemma she'd meet her at St. Thomas for an update on Chibs later so she couldn't just bail. Besides, her hiding out would be just as bad as Rosen's denial strategy. She'd just buck up and head back to Charming and take whatever bullshit from Tig she had coming, figuring they had ignored each other long enough.

She double checked her mirrors for any lurking exes, pulled out of the restaurant parking lot, hit the interstate and headed back to Charming. She checked her rearview constantly, fully expecting to see a very angry biker on her six but her fears were never confirmed. She weaved through the various exits without a tail and hit the California Delta Highway thinking Tig had gone home to stew on her punishment for the crime he had already convicted her in his head. She pulled out her cell and called his number, trying to head off a surprise explosion but he didn't answer. She left a message, "Hey…that wasn't what you think it was. Call me!"

Turns out the surprise explosion was ten minutes later, about five miles outside of Charming. Jaci was staring down the highway, deep in thought when she heard the roar of a bike. Her heart skipped a beat and she glanced in her side mirror. Tig had appeared out of nowhere and had his bike riding her Mustang's ass. Jaci sighed and whispered. "What are you doing?"

He answered by whipping into the left hand lane and roaring past her then cutting her off sharply enough to cause her to tap her brakes. She cussed him under her breath. A moment later he tapped his own brakes and slowed down so rapidly that she had to _slam_ on her brakes and gear down in an instant to keep from hitting him. "Fuckin' asshole!" She yelled as she pulled to a sliding stop on the dirt shoulder of the road.

With her right where he wanted her, Tig parked his bike on the shoulder and climbed off quickly. He slammed his helmet down on the seat of the bike and stalked back to her car. "GET OUT!" He yelled and pointed at her and then the side of the road. Her response was a glare and flying middle finger.

He wrenched open the passenger side door before she had the forethought to lock it and stuck his head inside the car, "Get out or I will pull you the fuck out." When she didn't move, he screamed again, "GET OUT!"

Jaci seethed, unhooked her seatbelt and scrambled out of the car, coming around to the passenger side with her hands in the air. "Are you crazy? Pulling a stunt like that… I could have run over your dumb ass!"

He ignored her rant and shot straight to the heart of the matter. "Why the fuck were you at Lin's? How the fuck did he know about me and you?"

"Are you seriously trying to tell me where I can eat now?"

"Getting cute with me right now will get you hurt." Tig pointed a finger at her with a warning. "That goddamn chink knew that YOU knew ME. Called you my goddamn girlfriend! How the hell did he know that, Jaci? Who're you running your mouth to?"

"I'm not running my mouth to anyone." She fired back defensively. "I was just eating lunch, what the hell were you guys doing there?"

"How did he know?"

Jaci had racked her brain trying to figure out how Lin knew about her link to Tig. The conclusion she had come to was straight forward but unsettling. She listened as Tig's boots crunched in the dusty gravel as he paced side to side in front of her. He was pissed and she decided to just cop to the explanation rather than draw it out. You had to pick your battles and she was pretty sure she had a more important one coming up after the Lin issue was settled.

"I ate there with Wendy and Vix…months ago, the night we got our tattoos. He must of overheard part of our conversation or something. Your name's pretty goddamn distinctive, TIG. If he heard it, it might have stuck in his head. I eat there just about every time I'm in Oakland with the girls from work…a familiar face now I guess."

"You ever talk to him directly? About me…about SAMCRO?" Tig seethed.

"NO!" Jaci replied with a scoff. "Why the fuck would I do that? He's not my goddamn best friend or something, Tig. I eat there, I say hi, he might ask how I'm doing, end of fucking story."

"Bullshit!"

"All I'm doing there is eating and minding my own business. I don't know what shit SAMCRO has going on with him, but I can guarantee I'm the small fish in this little equation. I don't know why the guy hung on to some TINY mention of you MONTHS AGO." Jaci said with finality. She crossed her arms and glared at her ex.

Tig let her words sink in and tried to make sense of the situation. After today's meeting with Lin, it was becoming crystal clear that the guy was a smart son of a bitch. Maybe his knowledge of Jaci had been innocent…she and her goddamn mouthy sisters, shooting the shit about Charming and whatever, dropped his name. Lin, being the swarmy bastard he was proving to be, files away the little nugget for future use and BINGO…today's bullshit explodes.

"Any other questions you'd like to ask me?" Jaci asked sarcastically. She was oddly hurt that Tig's hostile focus was on her potential running her mouth about THE CLUB and not about seeing her with a another man. _Stupid girl, THE CLUB always comes first…you should know that by now._

A humorless sneer spread across Tig's face. "Sure…I got a question. Are you fuckin' him?" He paused for a second. "Oh wait, let me be more specific…I'm not talking about Lin anymore. I'm talking about the other douchebag you were cuddled up with. You didn't waste any goddamn time did you?"

"Oh fuck you!" Jaci spat. Something about his smug tone made her anger boil and any mature reaction to the impending confrontation evaporated. She shook her head in frustration and looked away from him.

"Answer the goddamn question." Tig cleared the distance between them in two steps and ripped her sunglasses off her face before she could even recoil and threw them into the grass. "And look me in the eye when you lie to me. You're worse than a goddamn Croweater…jumping beds. One call...you know that right? I call Rosen and tell him to leave you alone and he would. He'd be pissing himself, scared to fuckin' death. Afraid of me, afraid he'd lose his precious contract with the Club. He'd sell you out for a retainer fee. He'd drop you like THAT." Tig snapped his fingers for emphasis.

"Absolutely and I'd expect nothing less. I've got no illusions about Jason...what makes him tick."

"So you're happy with a spineless douchebag?"

"There's nothing going on! He's nothing to me!" She yelled in response. "I'm NOT fucking him! What you saw was completely innocent. He was apologizing for some stupid shit, that's IT! Nothing happened!" She let her words sink in for a moment and could see Tig wasn't buying it. She pointed at him, "I didn't do anything! I STOPPED!"

"Stopped? _Stopped_? What the fuck does that mean? You _were_ fucking him but now you're not?"

Jaci watched the confusion on his face and realized she might have just dug herself a huge hole. "Who told you I fucked him?"

"Goddamn Lin….said you were with Rosen all the damn time." Tig spat and watched her face fall. He could read her like a book and she was guilty as sin….over something. "The fuck did you do, Jaci? What did you do?"

No one had told Tig any details about the night he had gotten out of jail, he had jumped to conclusions over some baseless wonderings of a Chinese mobster but now she had opened the door for a full-fledged confession of what had _almost _happened. Answering _nothing_ wasn't going to cover it now. Better to come clean than to have Tig get another line of bullshit on the matter from someone else.

"The other night, when you guys got released…you snubbed me in the parking lot and I was so goddamn pissed after our fight and then the whole goddamn week and then Rosen called, he was staying at a hotel and…" She heard Tig make a guttural noise like he was disgusted by the mental images he was already playing in his head but she kept explaining. "And I…I went over there…but nothing happened. I left…nothing happened."

Tig blinked, trying to process her bullshit story. He frowned. "So…you WERE going to fuck him…but you chickened out? That's your story?" He snorted a laugh, "You stupid fuckin' whore. You expect me to believe that shit?"

"I didn't DO anything, Tig. But you damn near drove me to it! How long did you think I was gonna put up with all your shit?" Jaci asked. "You can't keep shoving me away then pulling me back, you love me, you hate me- this make up, break up bullshit. It's like you only want me in fuckin' five minute increments, then the least bit of friction hits and you bail! So THIS is what happens."

"Fuck you." He spat and shook his head.

She stared hard at him, silently pleading with him to listen. She took a deep breath and laid her heart on the line. "You wanna know the truth about all this? The truth is that I spent every day of the week you were locked up thinking of ways to get you out. Mind you that was after you dropped me on my ass AGAIN. I was going to mortgage my house, try to get a loan off my car, refinance our business loan with Twisted…anything I could think of to get money to get you free. Would a Croweater do that? Oh wait, they can't. They don't have any assets…other than open legs and fake tits. They're nowhere to be found when the shit hits the fan but stupid little ole me is there…trying to fix shit for you. "

"So fuckin' him is fixing shit? I'm supposed to thank you for being a whore?" He retorted sarcastically.

"I didn't fuck him!" She yelled. "Bottom line is that you pushed me away and I _still_ tried to have your back. You were wrong but I was going to let it slide." Her voice cracked as she thought back to the night the guys were released. All the fight in her turned calm and serious and the things she wanted to tell him for a while came pouring out.

"I stood in that parking lot waiting to make sure you got home safe and sound and you couldn't even fuckin' acknowledge my existence. All you had to do was throw a nod in my direction and everything would have been ok." Tears stung her eyes as the hurt came flooding back. "Don't you get that? One little look, Tig. That was all I needed but you couldn't do it...couldn't give me a _second_ of your goddamn time."

Tig clenched his jaw as he watched the tears fall down her face. She had thrown the switch from fighting to trying to plead a case and he struggled to make the jump as quickly. He tried desperately hard not to care but felt the slightest bloom of confusion growing in his chest, was she telling the truth or not? "My club was falling down around my fuckin' ears, Jaci. I didn't have time to patch shit up when…"

"I get it, I know." Jaci replied and waved him off. "You made your choice and I knew I couldn't compete with it. Right or wrong, we both made a choice that night. You went with them and I went where I was wanted."

A long moment of silence passed between them as the blame settled at both their feet. She wiped away her tears and hated herself for crying but when a woman got pissed and hurt, tears were bound to fall. She snorted a humorless laugh. "You know what the sad part is? The really pathetic part? I felt bad about it. After all the shit with us…I was _so_ entitled to do whatever the hell I wanted but I got over there and I couldn't do it. Despite all your bullshit, I love you and I couldn't do it! But that didn't even matter cause the whole rest of the night and the next morning, I wanted to die. I felt fuckin' awful about even THINKING about running around on you."

The tears started to fall again, faster this time and she swiped them as she talked. "And I thought…that …if you would just call me, if we just made an effort…we could fix shit. I was gonna act like it all never happened, we're hard headed people and we both fucked up. I was gonna let it all go. But you never called, Tig. If you would have just called me, I never would have been in that place today, listening to Jason apologize about what _didn't_ happen. You never would have seen all that."

Tig was thankful his shades hide his eyes as he watched her crumble in front of him. Her devastation should have made him happy but it really just sort of made him want to claw his eyes out. He knew he was in the wrong but he wasn't there all alone. They had BOTH pushed each other too far. "Never would have seen it huh? Say I believe your bullshit story and you _stopped_…were you going to tell me about it?"

She shrugged and looked away. His eyes widened slightly…her shrug spoke more than any excuse she could have said aloud. One second of realization was all his ego needed to put an end to any sympathy he was feeling for her. _Don't let her play you, don't fall for this shit. _He frowned. "You fuckin' bitch." He muttered and took a step toward her, jabbing his finger in the air between them. "Fuck all that _we're both wrong, we both fucked up. _You weren't going to cop to your shit, were you?"

Jaci backed up as he kept closing the distance between them. He shook his head, teeth bared. "Oh no, you wanted ME to crawl back to you saying I'm sorry and shit and then you could take me back like you're doing me some goddamn favor and you come out looking like a goddamn saint." To think that thirty seconds earlier, he had felt bad for her, her tears had wounded him. _Don't be a fuckin' sucker! _He stopped abruptly and screamed at her. "FUCK THAT!" He turned and slammed his right foot into the passenger side door, leaving a boot size dent in the middle of it.

"What the fuck are you doing?" She screamed and instinctively put herself between him and her car, giving him a slight shove without thinking.

"That's so I don't put your face through the goddamn windshield, you fuckin' lying bitch!" Tig roared and stepped toward her again. He clenched his fist, wanting to hit her so bad he could see the impact against her cheekbone in his head but thankfully the tiniest shred of self-control held him up_. _He stopped and turned, starting to walk away but the little kick to the door hadn't relieved enough pressure, hadn't compensated for the rage he was feeling at the moment.

At the moment he hated Jaci with every fiber of his goddamn being. He hated her for trying to bail him out, for fucking Rosen whether she really did or not, for making him feel guilty about the whole damn mess, hell he hated her forever stepping foot back in Charming a year ago.

He pulled his knife from the sheath strapped to his left leg and heard Jaci suck in a breath. He locked eyes with her, watching the panic bloom on her face and liking it. He squeezed the knife handle tighter and headed towards her…and then right past her. He was going to stab the hood of her car until the goddamn knife handle broke but on his way he noticed a cluster of metal pipes lying in the weeds at the shoulder of the road; someone had lost some of their load. He paused for a second and kicked the pile of pipes, spotting a short one. With a quick movement, he re-sheathed his knife and grabbed the pipe instead.

Tig walked along the passenger side of the car toward the front and swung the pipe like a baseball bat as hard as he could into her windshield. The safety glass spider-webbed but held together. In a rage, he worked over the review mirror until it hung loose, cracked the wheel fender, and then smacked the hood so many times it probably wouldn't open again without the aid of a crowbar. He finally busted one of the headlights he had replaced after busting it to save her ass on St. Patrick's Day. He swung and hit the windshield one last time before throwing the pipe back into the weeds and taking a step back from the car, breathing hard.

She had scrambled away from him when he pulled the knife and stood more towards the back of the car. In shock and more than a little fear, she watched him wail on the car. When he finally stopped, she snapped out of her frozen state and her anger rushed to front and center. "You fuckin' pyscho! What the fuck? Are you done?"

Tig snapped his head toward her and glared. A second later, he bent slightly and rammed his knife though the right front tire. As the air started to whoosh out, he pulled the weapon free and leveled the knife in her direction. "Keep talking...see what else I stab."

She shut her mouth as he stared at her a moment longer. Then as soon as the rage had started, it was over. Without a word, he walked toward his bike. He snapped on his helmet, casually threw his leg over his Harley and roared off toward Charming.

It took her a long moment to steady her breathing before she walked to the front of her Mustang and really looked over the damage. She sighed with utter disbelief as she ran her shaky fingers along the carnage. "Goddamn." She muttered and then did the only thing she could do…she set to changing her flattened tire.

_**XXX**_

Jaci had just slammed the door to her now battered Mustang and held her face in front of the air conditioning vent, trying to cool down. She glanced at her grimy hands and snarled. Her nails were a mess, ripped and broken from her struggles with the tire. She wasn't high maintenance when it came to nails, no fakes for her, just kept them short with clear polish but even that look was ruined at the moment. Her cell phone rang and snapped her from her manicure woes. She muttered _shit_ upon seeing her brother in law's name spelled out on the called id. "Yeah?"

"Hey…where are you at?"

"Couple miles out of town on the side of the damn road…flat tire."

Jax shook his head in frustration. "Shit…you need some help?"

"Think about who you're talking to, Jax. I'm the last girl in the world that would need help with a tire change, already done."

"Good because we have a problem."

She didn't like his tone, he seemed on edge and she was worried in an instant. Surely Tig hadn't had time to fill him in on their bullshit, why would he anyway? No, something else was wrong. "What kind of problem? Is it Abel…Juice?"

"No…but it's SOMEBODY'S baby." Jax replied as he looked down and toed the now stiff body of the mutilated Doberman. "Some vandalism shit went down at Cara Cara. Fuckers killed Spawn. I guess apparently Luann had been keeping him for Vix?"

"Holy shit."

"Yeah…so where's Vix? Is she at the hospital with Juice or what?"

"Um…." Jaci was stunned by the news and struggled to remember the last time she had actually talked to her sister. Things had been hectic in the days since Juice had been hurt, Vix had been super busy and Jaci had been busy screwing up her life with her Rosen shit. "I'm pretty sure she has class this morning and then she text me something about being booked up tonight at Twisted I think." She let out a deep breath and leaned back in her seat. "Shit, Jax…Vix is going to be wrecked about this. Do you want me to tell her? I'm supposed to meet Gemma at St. Thomas, I'm already late but…"

"Maybe she's still in class. No need to pull her out of that, nothing she can do anyway. Call me when you get done with my mom. We'll figure something out."

Jaci agreed and hung up. After wondering what else in the damn world could go wrong in one day, she fired up her car and sped into town.

_**XXX**_

At St. Thomas, Gemma checked her watch as Jaci finally came walking towards the hospital entrance; forty five minutes late. For a girl that was NEVER late, the delay was worrisome and so was her appearance. The middle Parker sister was dressed for work but the knees of her pants were dirty as was her light blue shirt and her hair had been pulled back in a messy ponytail. Gemma crushed out her cigarette and frowned, "Where have you been?"

"Car trouble." Jaci muttered and cut off her rant.

"Bullshit." Gemma replied, not liking the way the girl had thus far avoided eye contact. As they walked inside and snagged an elevator, she looked the girl over and noticed her hands were filthy and she seemed agitated, something was wrong. "What happened?"

Jaci rolled her eyes at the inquisition but gave a version of the truth as she again looked at her battered nails. "Got a flat tire on the way back from Oakland, lugnuts were a bitch." She left out the part about a showdown with her psycho ex and finally looked at Gemma. "Look, I only stopped by to check on Chibs. I got worries beyond this right now. My sister is gonna lose her shit!"

"Why?" Gemma cocked her head. "I called and checked on our other hospital dweller this morning. He's still bleeding out his ass but…"

"No one called you? Luann didn't…Jax?" Jaci questioned, thinking Gemma would have been on the short list for information. "Someone murdered Spawn... slit his throat and wrote threats in his blood on the walls at Cara Cara. Vix has an insane bond with that dog. I'm just really thankful that she has a full day of classes because I have to tell her about it cause I need a second to goddamn surface for air between submerges into the sea of shit!"

Gemma just raised her eyebrows at the news and Jaci's agitated state. The elevator doors slid open on Chibs' floor and the women walked and sat down on an empty bench in the hallway. "Tara got called into an emergency surgery, should be out any minute." Gemma leaned her back against the wall and stared over at Jaci with a smug smile. "I got a real good feeling that whatever else is submerging you darlin', is your own doing... you made THAT hole. Speaking of which, it's been like a week since the guys got home. You and Tig ever talk? He hasn't said anything."

"Stick a fork in it, Gemma." Jaci stared straight ahead with her response.

.

"That bad huh?" Gemma inquired and only got a silent firm nod from Jaci. She thought back to the night the guys rolled into TM, Jaci had looked to be headed to Jason Rosen for some shelter and she wondered how that had really played out. "You and Rosen...I don't know what you did the other night and I don't WANT to know. Hopefully you came to your damn senses. But you know there's a double standard about this sort of shit. They can fuck a thousand girls for the hell of it but you wound his proud just ONCE and it's goddamn Armageddon. Right or wrong, Tig finds out about what did or didn't happen, he's gonna blow."

_He already did_. Jaci thought to herself but kept her face neutral. She stared at the shiny hospital tile floor and tried to calm down from the day's events. She wondered if she should tell Gemma the truth, get some sage advice on how to handle the disaster but after a moment of thinking of confessing, she knew she wouldn't come clean. She couldn't handle the look of disappointment that was sure to bloom on the Queen Bee's face. Jaci knew she had a reputation…the smart one, the good one but in one stupid moment, she'd burned all that down. It didn't really matter if she had fucked Rosen or not…she had looked guilty to Tig, would look guilty to Gemma…and appearances, around Charming, appearances were everything. Jaci sighed, "Don't worry about it, I'm 100% alone."

Before the conversation could go any further, Tara, dressed in her scrubs walked up to the pair. The women stood to meet her but Jaci drew the doctor's attention. Tara frowned and took in her dusty clothes. "What happened to you?" Her friend only shook her head and looked away, obviously not wanting to talk about the manner.

"So how's he doing?" Gemma asked. "How soon until he gets out of here?"

Tara sighed. "Well, the good news is that Chibs is doing fine. The bad news is he let his insurance lapse, as we all knew, and now he's going to have to finish up his recovery at Stockton Memorial."

"No way…absolutely not." Gemma seethed. "He can't be unprotected, Tara. There's too much shit going on for him to be alone in that defunct place."

"It's a good hospital, Gemma." Tara tried to calm the fears. "They actually have a very good…"

"I don't care what they have. They don't have US." Gemma snapped. "Can't you stop this?"

"Time to pull some strings." Jaci added quietly.

Tara shook her head. "I can't…I'm sorry but this is too big." She glanced around nervously and sure enough there was reason for her caution. She nodded toward a red headed woman wearing glasses. "You see that lady…that's Margaret Murphy and she's up my ass about my involvement with the Club as it is. There's nothing I can do. I cross her too much, she'll have my job."

The trio studied the director for a long moment and were rewarded with a thinly veiled glare of disapproval. Tara took a deep breath. "I have to go. I'll break the news to Chibs."

"You tell him not to worry. We'll figure something out." Gemma said at the doctor walked away.

Jaci looked at SAMCRO's head Old Lady and thought about the stunt that had pulled when Vix had been sick. "Time for another miraculous insurance card appearance?"

"I cashed in all my favors with that guy." Gemma said with sigh. She watched Tara's boss head toward the elevators and pursed her lips before nudging Jaci. "Come on…I've got an idea."

With a groan, Jaci followed her gaze. "Gemma what're you…"

"Just follow my lead."

The pair of ladies slid into the elevator just before the doors shut. Margret frowned at them and shuffled slightly to the left as Gemma smiled and invaded her personal space.

_**XXX**_

"I think that went pretty well." Gemma said with a smirk as she stepped out into the sunshine of the St. Thomas parking lot and slid her sunglasses over her eyes.

_Well is not a word I would EVER pick to describe what just happened in that elevator. _Jaci mused but only shrugged. "I guess we'll see." She headed toward her car, wanting only to go home and forget that the day had ever happened. "See ya."

Gemma frowned and called after her. "Hey, tell Vix I'm sorry about her dog. And you're coming tonight right? I told the guys eight o'clock so I need you there at six."

_The goddamn dinner. _Jaci shut her eyes and froze before finally turning around. "Gemma…I really don't think I should. Maybe this dinner's not a good idea right now."

"Nonsense. Everybody's stressed and pissed off…that's when you need to pull together. This dinner's exactly what the club needs." Gemma dangled her car keys on her finger and watched Jaci, who was obviously apprehensive about making an appearance. She was probably just nervous to be around Tig for the first time since their latest breakup. "You don't give a thought to what some _certain someone_ thinks about you being there. You've earned your spot. Try to drag Vix there too if you can."

Jaci shook her head. Gemma wasn't going to take no for an answer…there was no sense in trying to argue her way out of it. She threw up her hands in defeat. "Ok, I'll be there…with bells on. I'll just say sorry in advance."

"What's that mean?"

"You'll see." Jaci replied with a sad smile and walked to rest of the way to her car thinking Gemma had no clue of the shit storm she was setting up.

_**XXX**_

The same crew that had been at Lin's earlier in the day, minus Opie, had just arrived back on the Teller Morrow lot after rattling Edmund Hayes' cage about the whereabouts of their shipment of guns. The punk had said he had sold them but Clay knew better and had a strong damn feeling that the guns had been in the house at the very moment the little Irish shit was lying to them.

Tig fell into step with his President as they walked toward the clubhouse. He shelved his personal problems in a flash, remembering he was supposed to be finding out more about the riff between Clay and Jax. "Hey…this shit with you and Jax, is it about Donna?"

"Part of it." Clay answered simply.

"Anything I can do?"

Clay shrugged as he walked, "Doubt it…killing Donna's got you spun out."

Tig glanced to his side. "What?"

"You know what I'm talking about…you're all spun out. First with the Donna shit now all this bullshit with Jaci. I had to hold up business today so you could bitch at your goddamn ex! Where's your priorities?"

"That's OVER." Tig replied with gritted teeth.

"For now...until the next time." Clay quipped sarcastically.

Tig felt his defenses flare. "I handled it, said my piece, it's done."

Clay shook his head and looked at his friend with disdain. "I don't even know if your fuckin' patch makes sense anymore."

"Whoa, what?" Tig asked with a frown. He pulled up short, putting his hand on Clay's chest to stop him. "What are you talkin' about? After everything I've done for this club….for you? I can make the hard call, Clay."

"It ain't about what you've _done_…it's about what you might have to do." Clay replied coldly. "And right now, I ain't sure about shit with you. Hell, come to think of it, the Donna flub probably had a lot to do with Jaci goddamn Parker. You got too many people fuckin' with your head." He stomped off ahead, leaving his SAA and best friend standing stunned and hurt.

Tig watched his President's back disappear into the clubhouse and finally blinked. After all the years of shit he'd done…how the fuck could Clay doubt him? Yeah, he was having some problems lately but no one in the goddamn club seemed to have a firm grip on anything these days, but to talk about stripping his patch? _Motherfucker._

_**XXX**_

As Vix pulled Ruby's Gran Torino to a stop in the lot at Cara Cara, she noticed Luann's Vette and smiled to herself, _G__ood, Spawn-baby is here._ She parked and spotted both Jax and Bobby's bikes in the lot but didn't think anything about it, guys were probably just checking up on their profits. As she made her way towards the entrance of the building she saw a guy hop out of the front passanger seat of a black van.

"Hi." He said with a smile.

Normally Vix would not be stopped dead in her tracks at a greeting but this one was accompanied by the waving of a gloved hand sporting only one finger. _WTF?_ "Who the hell are you?" She asked while still openly gawking at his apparently mutilated hands.

"Chuckie."

A bit mesmerized by the situation, she nodded slowly while still starring at his hands. Her thrroat suddenly went dry and she swallowed hard. "Please tell me Luann isn't doing Mutilation Fetish shit! Jesus Christ!"

"No, no no. I'm just here with the Sons."

"Whose sons?" She scoffed, not seriously contemplating that this fucked up little dude was a friend of The Club.

"The Sons, me and Otto are best friends. We met in prison."

Vix winced. "Jesus! Did they fuck up your hands while you was inside?"

Chuckie shook his head and gave an awkward smile. "No…this happened fairly recently."

"Well, ok. You take care, Chuckie." She replied with nod and a shudder. "I'm gonna go see Luann, Jax and the others."

He held up a tentative one-fingered protest. "Um, you may not want to go in there..." He winced as he explained. "There was apparently some kind of violent act that took place." He lowered his voice. "Involved animal sacrifice."

Vix blinked and stammered. "Wh-what? Whatdaya mean? Animal Sacrafice?"

"I believe I overheard them saying a guard dog was..."

Vix's head began to spin, her stomach clenched in a knot with her heart pounding hard. "WHAT... WHAT DOG?" She took a step towards the odd stranger, seething. "WHAT FUCKIN' DOG?"

"I believe it was a doberman..."Chuckie replied, backing up from the obviously upset young woman.

"Nooooo! NOOOOOOO! " Vix turned towards the building and took off at a dead run. She threw open the door and let loose a guttural scream, "SSSSPPPPPAAAAAWWWWNNNNNN!"

At the ear piercing scream, Jax came rushing out of Luann's office. His eyes landing on Vix and he knew containing the situation was horribly fucked. "SHIT!"

Vix spotted Jax and Bobby and rushed towards them, only to screech to a halt at the sight of some unfortunate janitorial staff member scrubbing up blood stains. She whimpered, "SPAWN?" as she started to storm across the studio.

Opie watched the scene unfold and broke from Lyla's side. He managed to cut Vix off from reaching her gruesome destination and held her with a bear-hug restraint. She flailed her fists against Opie's chest and sides trying to get loose from his grip.

"VIX! " Jax hollered loudly to divert her attention but got no response. He tried again to focus her. "VIX!"

Finally she stilled and looked over at her brother-in-law, "Spawn?" She inquired, still disbelieving the horror of the situation.

Jax nods sadly, "I'm sorry, darlin'."

She hiccupped as sobs began to erupt from her chest. Instead of fighting against Opie, she turned and clung to him for support, sobbing into the front of his cut. The guys exchanged a wary and tired look wondering just how much horrible shit could keep piling up at their feet.

**TBC…**


	25. Chapter 22 Losing Battles

**Walk Away from the Son****  
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SoA  
****Chapter 22- Losing Battles**

**By BG and Reaper**

_**~Huge THANKS to all the great reviews. It was awesome to hear from our 'regular' fans and some new faces as well and was really cool see how deeply everyone felt about what's going on in our version of Charming right now! We think you'll be equally excited for this chapter! It went through a lot of revisions but the finished product is pretty damn good.**_

_**XXX**_

A trio stood gathered in the main room of Cara Cara. Bobby let out a sigh and shook his head. "Shit's gonna haunt her man." He nodded over to the corner where Vix was sitting next to the body of her slain dog. Try as they had, no one could talk the distraught Parker out of viewing the carnage. Jax had accompanied her over to the far corner where the body of Spawn had been wrapped in a blanket taken from the set. Vix had sunk 'til she was sitting on the floor and there she remained. "Look at her, just all rockin' to n fro like a lost, scared little girl. You think one of us should call her Old Man?"

Jax and Luann replied stongly in unison "No!"

Bobby raised an eye brow as Jax cocked his head in a _come on, now _move. "You _really _think Juice would stay put, heal like he needs to, if we tell him about this shit... ?"

"He'd be rippin' out his goddamn IVs and leavin' A.M.A.- Against Medical Advise." Luann added then sighed. "He loves her, that's for damn sure."

Jax turned his attention to another couple. "Speaking of love, what's up with those two?" He asked as he nodded to where Opie and Lyla were chatting cozily.

Luann shrugged. "I dunno, but I think they're kinda cute... reminds me of me and Otto."

They all watched as Opie excused himself and made his over to their congregation. "Do we know who did this?"

"Shit that's missin'…had to be Georgie." Jax replied.

"That was a ten-thousand dollar camera." Bobby muttered, cringing internally has he ran through the studio's budget. There was no extra money lying around to replace the stolen items.

"The camera was insured." Luann hissed. "Those rough cuts…" She whined, "Worth three times that much! AND bloody death threats to Lyla, the only one of my girls who didn't cave to his bullshit. Who else would have done this? It was Georgie."

Clearly amped up and ready to kick some shit, Opie growled, "Let's go."

"Wait, what am I supposed to do with...?" Luann nodded over to Vix in the corner.

The three bikers exchanged looks with Jax finally sighing. "I called her sister, she was meetin' Gemma at St. Thomas to get an update on Chibs. She's supposed to call me when she's through and we were gonna figure out how to break that news to Vix, but Chuckie beat us to it." He ran his hand over his head and blew out an forceful breath. "Let Jaci deal with Vix...but in the meantime, keep her ass here."

Bobby nodded emphatically. "Her shock wears off, we're gonna have a very volatile Vix Parker on our hands."

"Great! What am I supposed to do with her if that shock wears off before her sister gets here?"

"It's a porn studio." Jax reminded. "Am I out on a limb when I say you probably have some bondage shit at your disposal?"

Bobby chuckled despite the intense situation. Luann scoffed, "Are you fucking kidding me? You want ME to restrain VIX PARKER? Are you CRAZY?"

"Look…I don;t care what the fuck you do with her, just don't leave her outta your sight. Make sure she fares better than her dog."

Luann bit her tongue but her incredulous looks screams _FUCK YOU! _She watches the three Sons head for the door. "Hey! What time does Gemma want us for dinner?"

"8 o'clock!" Jax hollered back. He got a few confused glances from Bobby and Op. "Remember? Gemma's having a pot luck..." Recognition blossomed across his friends' face and they discussed allowing Lyla to attend along with Bobby's odd new found law about tapping porn stars.

As they walked outside, Jax lit up a cigarette. "Hey! There's the two fingered town crier."

Opie shook his head. "Jackass."

"I accept that." Chuckie answered nervously, knowing they were yelling at him for spilling the beans about the slain dog. "I wasn't aware of her relationship to the dead canine."

"Yeah… whatever." Jax mumbled. "Hey, that shit you said earlier, 'bout Lin losin' turf to the Mayans. How legit is that info?"

"I overheard Lin himself complaining to his closest affiliate that Alvarez took everything south of Water Street. I'd say it's very legit."

"Good enough for me." Jax up-nodded at Opie and Bobby. "Georgie's studio is halfway to Oakland; we should pay LaRoy a visit after. If Brown's pushin' in on Yellow… Yellow's gonna push on Black."

"Welcome to the Rainbow of Criminality." Bobby said with a chuckle.

Jax smirked at Lin's Gift. "Come with us, Chuckie… we'll put you to good use."

"I accept that." Chuckie replied with a grin.

_**XXX**_

A short time later, Jax, Opie, Bobby and Chuckie sat in the black van a block down from Caruso's studio. Silence was the rule until Bobby finally busted it. "Has anyone come up with a plan of _what the fuck are we gonna do_? yet? Just waltz on in and ask to see the owner? Go in with guns waving?" He inquired then pointed out, "If Georgie is there, he'll hide or be out a back exit before we can corner him. If he's not, someone will call him and give him a heads up. He won't circle 'round this place and either way, we show our hand."

Jax sighed and shook his head in frustration. From the back cargo area, Chuckie raised his hand… as if he were some two-fingered, mutilated grade-schooler. "I was thinking about something that girl said…Vix, I think her name is."

"Yeah?" Jax squinted at him, "What was that?"

"When she first saw me, she grimaced at my hands and said, '_Please tell me Luann isn't doing Mutilation Fetish shit!__'_"

Jax snorted. "Sounds like something Vix would say. So your idea is what? Go in and suggest mutilation fetish shit be something Caru…" He paused midword, mulling it over. "Shit, Chuckie… that may just work."

Bobby nodded along, liking the idea. "Send our two-fingered freak in there, tell 'em he has an appointment. You wouldn't believe the UN-solicited shit that arrives at Luann's post office box."

"We'll at least know if the asshole is there by how they respond." Opie said with a shrug. Jax and Bobby nodded in agreement at the newly hatched plan.

_**XXX**_

As Opie wrote 'Mutilation Fetish' in black marker on the surface of a unmarked recordable CD that Bobby had found in the glove box of the van, Jax gave instructions to Chuckie. "Just go in, say you have an appointment with Mr. Caruso to see your reel. If they say he ain't there, come back out. We'll try back after we finish other business. If they take the bait… what the hell are you humming?"

"You said this guy's name is Georgie… made me think of the nursery rhyme. You know, _Georgie Porgie… pudding and pie… kissed the girls and made 'em cry. When the boys came out to play, Georgie Porgie ran away."_

Bobby's belly shook as he laughed. "You're one fucked up little dude, man but that might be very prophetic. He made our girls cry and when _these_ boys come out to play…"

"He'll wish he'd run away." Opie completed in a deadpan serious voice.

_**XXX**_

Closer to Charming, Half Sack had been sitting on his bike watching Edmund's safe house when Weston finally showed up. He quickly pulled out his cell and called Clay to let him know that LOAN was on the the scene. Clay gave a quick terse order to follow the guns and stay in touch.

Clay ended the call from the Prospect and glared at Tig. "Get on the phone, get Jax and the guys here, NOW. We're going after our guns. Prospect's gonna call when they reach a meeting place. I wanna be ready to roll, you hear me?"

Tig wanted to bristle at the thought of being reduced to a goddamn secretary, to making _calls,_ but held his tongue and watched his President walk away. After just being told that his patch didn't make any sense, the last thing he needed to be doing was bitching about taking orders. Tig exhaled forcibly through his nose and pulled out his cell.

_**XXX**_

Vix was physically in the passenger seat of Luann's Vette but mentally she was elsewhere. Eyes closed, she wished she were magically back home, laying up in bed with Juice, watching a _World's Dumbest_ marathon and laughing at the commentary given by the D-List celebs, with Spawn-baby sprawled out that the foot end, four legs extending out over the edge of the bed and twitching, as if in his dream he was chasing squirrels.

"VIX!"

She blinked and turned towards the sound of her name finding Lu staring at her, "Huh?"

"Time to get out of the car now, sweetie." Luann advised as if she were addressing a small child.

"Where are we?"

"I told you where we were going." Luann muttered, lying down reminders. "Redwood City, "my distributor called, had to reschedule this morning's meeting. Come on, we're late. Traffic on the drive here sucked ass. That drive shoulda taken an hour and a half max."

"Nothin' wrong with my memory, Luann. I meant what is this?" She motioned to their surroundings as she exited the vehicle.

"Underground auxiliary parking for Redwood Station. Devon's office is across the street but there's _never_ any parking."

Vix got out of the car and followed along, lost deep inside her emotional tsunami, she wasn't paying attention… if she had been, they would've never gotten the jump on her. As she and Lu rounded the corner, a sound finally registered, breaking through the fog. It was the sound of someone sliding the action on a gun, probably a semi-automatic.

"What was that?" Luann abruptly stopped walking. She'd clearly heard it too.

Vix turned in the direction of the sound and saw movement. She too was moving, in a fluid motion and as if practiced, her hand tugged down the zipper of her hoodie, reached inside and pulled her revolver just as the already dim overhead lights flickered and then went out completely.

"Vix?" Luann called. "Where are you? I can't see shit."

The youngest Parker girl blinked, trying hard to recall where Otto's old lady had been just before they were dunked into darkness. "You were three or four steps ahead of me. Either stay there and don't move or ..." Out of the darkness she was blindsided. A pair of hands caught the pinky of her gun hand and bent it back. "FUCK!" She cried out in pain as her weapon clattered to the floor.

"Vix...shit! Get away from me!" Luann hollered then came the sound of a struggle and a break away, followed by the sounds of the porn queen's high-heeled retreat.

Vix punched wildly at whoever was bending her finger. She finally tore her hand free but then something heavy thudded against the side of her temple. She felt herself fading into _The Room_... Half-Sack had once explained that was what Muhammed Ali had called the dark place where bats blew saxophones in your ear while you slid into their looney, slow-motioned cadence. But her fear was determined and overpowering and her senses came screaming back a second later. She side stepped and though her head was swimming, she managed to hook a couple of hard lefts into her attacker's liver. She heard something metal and heavy clatter to the pavement but she failed to connect a knee-to-the-groin and lost her balance, sprawling forward onto the pavement, the rough concrete tore at her palms as the rest of her body slammed hard into the garage's floor. Her breath was knocked out of her but a moment later she took in what air she could and managed to get to her knees, only to be cross checked and knocked sideways. This time she landed on her back, tailbone stinging and sending a numbing shock coursing through her body as it connected with the floor. Her attacker fell on her hard, his shoulder connecting with her jaw upon impact.

For the next few seconds, Vix and unconsciousness flirted heavily but oddly the new pain emanating from her jaw helped clear her head. With one hand clawing against the hands choking her, the other searched the ground for a makeshift weapon just as the man's hands squeezed her throat harder. Not able to breathe and not finding either her gun or whatever metal object the fucker had hit her with and then dropped, she stuck both hands under the heavy assailant on top of her and worked them down between their two bodies until they were at crotch level. A second later she shoved both her thumbs into the fucker's scrotum, drilling them upwards, twisting and pushing with hard core desperation. The sweet feeling oxygen seeping into her lungs was almost heady as the asshole cursed and hollered but relinquished his hold on her. Vix bucked hard against his crushing weight as he was rolling off her in agony. She inched herself further away from him and her hand finally touched the piece of metal. Snatching it up in her hand, she recognized it as a tire iron. She turned and swung it with all her might.

_**XXX**_

The cell phone buzzed on the table across from Jax and he glanced at Alvarez. He, Opie and Bobby had failed to exit quickly enough after walking into a den full of Mayans who were clearly the new owners of the prior Niner's haunt. Jax smirked at his captor, "That's my Mom.. she's expecting us for dinner."

"Awe and I'm not invited?"

Jax shrugged, "We might need someone to bus a few tables." He rolled with the punch the Mexican gang's president administered.

Getting in the face of the SAMCRO VP, Alvarez sneered, "Tell Clay that bullshit truce we made is off the table. Next SON who walks into Mayan territory ain't walkin' out." He looked at his crew and nodded. "Let them go… take their cuts."

"That ain't happenin'." Jax shook his head, only to feel the cold metal of Alvarez's hand gun press roughly against his temple. He held his ground though and stared hard at the Mayan. "Might as well go ahead and pull the trigger, man….only way this leather is coming off my back."

_**XXX**_

He wasn't exactly white, a mix of his features led Vix to believe he had little bit of ebony flowing thru his veins too. He had the formidable stature of a matador, a little bit taller than herself, likely all well-defined muscle, no padding. Nothing like the large, seedy looking white dude with Charlie Manson eyes, a severely pock-marked face and a haircut reminiscent of a caveman that she'd put down just moments prior.

Vix spotted him searching for his prey on the parking level above the one where Luann had parked. The lights on this level were functioning and she glanced around quickly. Where ever Lu was hiding, she wasn't visible. She chambered a round and the sound was distinctive enough to stop the man in his tracks. "Lose the hardware." She seethed.

He turned around and cocked his head. "Who the fuck are you?"

"I'm a crazy chick. A Pissed Off Crazy Chick...a Pissed Off Crazy Chick With A Gun. Can you think of anything scarier? Now toss your gun on the ground and kick it over here."

She felt his eyes sweep up and down her body, "A Goddamn Good-Lookin' Pissed Off Crazy Chick With A Gun. Honey, you gotta know that.. "

"Goddamn Good-Lookin' Pissed Off Crazy Chick With A Gun Who Ain't Fuckin' Around. DROP YOUR GUN or I will blow your head into pieces of brainless shrapnel."

"Ok, ok. Damn, girl!" He blurted in return. She watched as he tossed the gun on the floor; it skidded to a mid point between the two of them. "What you doin' with Delaney? You're much too damn good lookin' for her skank roster. You should come work for Caruso. Cara Cara is a dead dog darlin'."

A ball of fire flashed past his head, far enough away to miss him but close enough to drive him instinctively to his knees, arms thrown over his head. He fell hard onto his chest and lay there on the concrete floor.

"LUANN!" Vix hollered. "LU!"

"Vix?" A timid voice answered in return.

"Who the fuck do you think it is, the tooth fairy? We gotta go, half the rail station had to have heard that blast."

On the floor the man began laughing, "Dead dog... you reacted at _dead dog_. The collar, the gun metal, laser-etched tag 'S..P...A...W...N'." He chuckled. "Dead doggie was a pet?"

Vix seized with anger, fought against the shakes his taunting words were bringing to the surface but she dug deep and spat back a taught response. "Were you jealous? Jealous that the pup had bigger balls than you?"

Luann, now barefoot rushed over silently. "Come on, Vix. Sirens in the distance, honey."

"Grab his gun, Luann." Vix commanded, keeping her weapon trained on him. Luann stooped and retrieved the pistol. "Take it... get the car."

"BUT…"

"GO!"

Minutes that felt like hours passed before the little, red corvette zoomed up the ramp from the lower level and screeched to a halt just behind Vix.

"If I ever see you again, what you did to my dog will seem like a paper cut by comparison."

Whatever his response, if he even had one, was lost on the squeal of the tires as Luann gunned the gas.

Five minutes later, they were speeding down the freeway. Vix slapped down the sun visor and winced at her reflection in the mirror. Her temple was raised to the size of a goose egg, her lip was split and bleeding, and around her neck raised purple bruises told the tale of her brush with death. She shook her head and scoffed, "There went number eight. Welcome to life number nine."

"I should take you to St Thomas, sneak you in to see Jax's old lady. She could ..."

"Freak the fuck out? No thank you, I'll live. Just drop me at the studio. I need to get Ruby's car."

"I … um, I don't think it would be good for Juice to see you like this...if you were..."

"No Shit!" Vix spat back. "Last fuckin' thing he needs is to worry about me. Just drive."

_**XXX**_

The Prospect had called Clay with news that Weston and the guns were sitting at a rest stop just out of town. Tig and Clay had piled up in the tow truck and headed that way with Happy following on his bike. They met up with Half Sack and checked out the situation. So far, there had been no reaching Jax and the others but Tig tried again on his cell, at Clay's impatient urging, but didn't have any better luck.

"Fuck it…let's do this." Clay announced and swung open the passenger side door of the truck, leaving the others to scramble to get ready.

At first, the exchange take over seemed like it might work, even being short-handed. The Sons had the element of surprise and pulled their guns on Weston and the few guys he had with him, easily taking control of the guns. But a moment later, Weston was smirking in Clay's face, commenting on how perfect their timing was. A second after that, three cars full of skinheads came skidding to a stop in the parking lot and suddenly the Sons were severely out numbered. Bullets flew from both sides and the Sons scrambled back to the tow truck, using it as much needed cover.

It would have been easy to load up in the truck and get the hell out of the situation…but Clay got greedy and didn't want to give up the guns. He got pinned down several feet away from the group, trying to grab as many AKs as he could.

"Clay! Let em go! Come on!" Tig screamed from his position, pressed up against the side of the tow truck. Clay ignored him and it became suddenly clear, he'd have to be physically pulled off the guns….and that's when Tig froze. Normally, he would have yelled for the guys to cover him, would have ran across the firing zone, grabbed Clay and pulled him back in a heartbeat. He would have protected his friend without fear, without hesitation but today…he didn't move.

Suddenly the thought of being shot, of putting his life on the line didn't seem so appealing. It was half bitching out panic, half calculated withdrawal. A part of him wanted to show Clay just what would happen if he really _didn't_ do his job as Sgt at Arms, wanted to show his President just how vulnerable he would be without the protection he always took for granted. The other part of Tig just shut down with the deafening sound of guns blasting, not wanting to stick his neck out.

As the seconds ticked by, Half Sack look back to Tig, expecting to just follow the SAA's lead but he quickly saw that Tig was zoned out with an odd look on his face. He wasn't sure the expression but almost thought it was fear. _Shit…he's not gonna move! _Half Sack made a split second decision to take matters in his own hands and called out, "Cover me!" He prayed someone listened.

Thankfully Happy's head was completely in the game and he started plugging shotgun blasts in the direction of Weston's men as the Prospect skidded across the divide, grabbed Clay and hauled him to the safety of the tow truck. Meanwhile, Tig had crawled inside and fired up the rig. The Sons were lucky and escaped without harm, well physical harm. As they drove away, Clay looked over at Tig and a million accusations and doubts passed silently between them.

_**XXX  
**_

_Do you see what we've done...gone and made such fools of ourselves_

_~Decode, Paramore_

"Dead man walking." Jaci muttered in a sing song voice as she strolled up the front walkway to Gemma's house carrying a pineapple pie. This dinner was the official last place on Earth she wanted to be but it didn't really matter; what Gemma wanted, Gemma got. She had been summoned and there was probably no getting out of it but Jaci was going to try, hoping to make an appearance, drop off the pie and then leave.

She would rather be letting Vix cry on her shoulder about Spawn's unfortunate demise than braving this dinner tonight…only she couldn't seem to find her sister. Jax hadn't answered his cell after she had finished up at St. Thomas, Cara Cara had been a ghost town, Twisted was closed,Vix wasn't answering her cell and didn't seem to be at Juice's apartment either. Giving up, Jaci had opted for heading home and taking a shower before working up the nerve to head to Gemma's.

Neeta surprisingly let her in the front door; she hadn't expected to see the nanny there. Jaci pushed inside the house and on into the kitchen, putting the pie in the fridge. She spotted her nephew, happy in his highchair, and made a beeline for him. "Hey there little monkey." She cooed as she kissed his forehead. Abel laughed as she grabbed his hands and shook them playfully. "You've just made this night a little more bearable, buddy." She whispered with a smile.

"Hey, baby." Gemma called to her across the kitchen. Jaci gave her a nod and a weak smile then threw up her hands in a silent _what do you need me to do _gesture. The SAMCRO matriarch pointed to ears of corns that needed to be shucked and Abel's aunt got to work. She waited a short while until Gemma moseyed back around to her area and then snagged the lady's attention.

"Hey, Gemma…got a minute?"

"Why does the _tone_ of that question bother me?" Gemma quipped.

Jaci gave her a nervous smile and started her confession. "Look, I'm more than happy to help out here, prep for dinner and whatever but I really need to get out of here before the guys show up." Gemma pursed her lips together and raised her eyebrows in anticipation of the _real story_. "I left out some details this afternoon about why I was late. I _did_ have a flat…but only because Tig rammed his knife through my tire." She gave a summarized but completely honest version of events over the last few days starting with her almost slipup with Rosen then the complete disaster of the lunch meeting at Lin's and ending with her insane roadside run-in with Tig.

"Jesus Christ, Jaci." Gemma retorted as she shook her head. "Are you fucking stupid?"

"Apparently." Jaci answered with a sigh.

"You really expect me to believe that you didn't sleep with Rosen? I SAW you that night…you were hell bent on trouble."

"I didn't do it." Through clenched teeth, Jaci reiterated her innocence. "If I had gone through with it, I'd own up to it."

"Owning up to it would be even more stupid. Being _that _honest would get you hurt…and exiled."

Jaci waved the threats off. "The whole situation is stupid and so is my being here tonight. I thought about trying to talk to Tig before he walked in here but there's no way he's going to discuss this shit rationally…emotions are too raw. I need to just steer clear for a few days and then get him off by himself. I can fix it but not right now and definitely not in front of an audience."

Gemma scoffed as she thought back to Clay throwing a cinder block through her car window at Cara Cara . "No shit…the last thing a man's ego needs is an audience." She gave the supposedly wiser but now clearly not so much Parker sister a long looking over. "I'm surprised you want to work it out with him; didn't take you as the type to take much shit from a man."

"I didn't used to." Jaci answered honestly. "But this little riff is on me… yeah he started it but Lord did I take off running with it. It's my screw up, up to me to set right."

"Alright…finish up what you're doing." Gemma replied. "I tell these guys 8pm and I get anywhere from 7 till 10 so you probably need to get out of here now."

_**XXX**_

Everything was peaceful until closer to the actual dinner time. Jaci had gotten the honor of feeding then rocking Abel to sleep and the final touches were put on dinner as other people started arriving. Jaci had just given a nod to Gemma, a silent goodbye, and was heading for the door when Tara nearly knocked her down coming through it.

Tara's bad mood was immediately obvious. She stomped right to Gemma and thrust a letter in her face. Gemma grimaced and pulled her face away. "What's this?"

"It's a Hostile Work Environment claim against me and my PROXIES filed by my boss, Margaret Murphy." Tara hissed and shot Jaci a dirty look since she had been Gemma's partner in crime in harassing her boss.

Gemma waved off the doctor. "What a bunch of pussies. All I did was have a passionate conversation with her."

Tara nearly shook with anger. "You're going to get me fired! Do you get that? Look… the CLUB is the club, my LIFE is MY life, stay out of it!"

"We were just trying to help Chibs." Gemma offered. "The quicker he gets out of the hospital and is back with the crew, the quicker things will get back to normal around here."

"Normal? There's no such thing!" Tara exclaimed and pointed at Jaci, who had walked back deeper into the kitchen to see what the problem was. "Your sister's boyfriend was stabbed in the back a few days ago. His vital organs were missed by God's Devine Plan or someone's shitty aim. Luann's husband got his eye gouged out." She shook her head for a second. "I mean, what _is_ that? That's like OLD TESTEMENT bible style brutality. And…and…" She glanced at Gemma after the mention of brutality, knowing the horrors she had suffered.

Gemma eyed Tara back. _I dare you, bitch. Just say something and see what happens._

The doctor wisely kept her mouth shut about Gemma's pain and moved her attention back to Jaci. "And your younger sister's business got burnt down, your older one jumps on and off the wagon more than a stage coach driver. And you... you wanna toe a line...law abiding Monday, Wednesday and Friday but then outlaw on Tuesdays, Thursdays and every other Saturday."

Lyla walked into the kitchen just then, followed by her son Piper and Kenny and Ellie. Tara took one look at the porn star and scoffed. "Jesus, that's just great…we can serve handjobs for dessert."

"HEY!" Lyla yelled. "In front of the kids? That just great…really!" She turned and stormed back out of the house.

Jaci looked at the confused and slightly scared faces of the kids. _Shit, the firefighting starts early tonight. _She temporarily ditched her plan to leave early and locked eyes with Tara, "Come on…let's go out back."

"I'm mad at you." Tara spat.

"Fine…you can be mad at me OUTSIDE. Come on." Jaci fired back and pointed to the back deck door. If the bitching didn't get calmed down soon, she feared a slap or two might be handed out and she wasn't completely sure she could control herself. It was time to defuse the situation and quickly.

The two girls stomped outside to the deck. Jaci plopped down on a deck chair and kicked one towards Tara. It was then that the doctor noticed Jaci grabbed a bottle of beer on the way outside.

"Drinking again?"

"Trust me, doc…the way this night's going, we're all gonna want to be buzzed." Jaci replied and extended the bottle to her friend. Tara reluctantly took the beer and then took a long pull from it before handing it back. Jaci sighed, "Look I totally get why you're pissed. That shit with your boss was out of line but in all honesty you should probably be glad I was there. I kept that from going from a 'passionate' discussion to a full on physical persuasion."

"I don't know how to deal with this shit, Jaci. I'm a professional for God sake's! They can't just be sticking their noses in at my job."

"Get used to it. Same shit happens with me, only on a lesser scale. They need to squeeze someone for money in this town, who do you think they call for leverage? It's probably the whole reason Gemma helped me get that job. You're a doctor, Tara…that puts you damn the top of the usefulness list for the club."

Tara shook her head. "I'm not putting up with this. Jax is going to have to…"

"Jax isn't going to do anything…" Jaci started and then abruptly stopped and thought about checking her opinion but then decided _screw it_. After the past couple of days she had been through, someone was going to feel the wrath of truth. "Look, I love ya girl and therefore I'm not going to fill you full of bullshit. The way I see it, this has nothing to do with _Jax_ and everything to do with _you_. You need to shit or get off the pot."

"What?" Tara asked with a grimace.

"That's not just a Southern expression, that's pretty universal I'm sure." Jaci retorted and took a long drink. "Look, Jax comes with a lot of baggage, namely his mother and this club and his son and they're not going anywhere, _ever_. So either you find a way to deal with all of it or you bail, end of story. It's really that simple. There's no separating the club from your life, if you're with him, the club IS your life."

Jaci made sure Tara was listening and continued. "That's the damn beauty and horror of it all with the Club. Those guys will be there for you and Jax and Abel in every way possible…but there's a price to it. You have to be there for them 100%, do some things you may not like. Straddling the line is hard but it's required."

"So you're ok with all this shit?" Tara asked with concern. "This constant drama and everything?"

"No, I'm not." Jaci answered bluntly.

"Then why are you here? You and Tig aren't even together anymore, right?"

"I'd say that whole situation is complicated but that'd be like the biggest understatement ever. Honestly, I probably need to follow my own advice when it comes to him but that doesn't even matter. We could split for good and it's _still_ complicated. Vix and Juice will probably get married one day, my nephew is going to grow up in all of this and then when you add in my family back in Bama…I'm stuck…no real way out. The club's in my blood and I'm all tangled up in it. Sure, I can limit exposure but I'll still be in the middle of some things. But you…you can _really_ get free, Tara. If you want, you can walk away, different town, new job and never have to think about all this shit again. You could be completely clear."

Tara stared at her friend and then down at the deck for a long moment. She thought of all the trouble but then of all the quiet, loving moments with Jax. She finally spoke in a quiet voice, "Not really. He's all I want."

Jaci smiled. "Well good…cause I think you're good for him. He'll listen to you; you can help him be better. I thought I could pull that off with Tig but…I'm really doubting his capability at this point. Jax IS capable. You can learn to navigate all this shit, Tara. It's just going to take some practice."

The friends sat in silence for a few more minutes, sharing the beer until the bottle was empty. "Jax wants to change things…with the club."

"Yeah?" Jaci inquired with a raised brow.

"Shit…I shouldn't have said anything." Tara chided herself for even mentioning what she knew to be in Jax's plans since reading his father's manifesto. "It's just…you said he's capable. I think so too…I think he can be more peaceful, might be able to pull the club that way too."

"Good…Lord knows they need some peace. They keep shit up like this, there won't be any Sons alive."

Before they could talk anymore in depth, Jax pushed open the back door. "Hey…what's the hell's going on? Lyla's pissed and wanting to leave. Gemma's in a mood about something. What the fuck?"

After thinking _shit, the guys are here _Jaci stood up and smirked at him. "Don't worry about it, Jax. It's just...girl stuff." She headed back inside, hoping to grab her keys and keep walking right out the front door.

Jax frowned but then stared at Tara. "Lyla…do you think you ease up on her?"

"I know, I know…she's just doing her best." Tara replied with a sigh, having calmed down slightly from her mini blow up. "Won't have to worry about me judging her too much longer… I keep hanging out with THIS family I may have to suck cock to pay my bills too."

"What are you talking about?"

"Ask your mother or your sister in law." Tara replied cryptically and headed to the kitchen.

_**XXX**_

With Jax and Tara trailing her back inside the dining room, Jaci gave a quick hi to the kids and mouthed 'sorry' to Lyla along with nodding a hello to Opie, who stared coolly back at her. She found herself in the awkward situation of not knowing who was privy to all the shit that had happened earlier in the day with Tig. She had only seen him and Clay at Lin's but knew there had probably been more guys there. Jax hadn't said anything to her and had had the perfect opportunity on the back deck, Op was giving her an odd look but now Bobby was smiling at her. _What the hell? _

Jax spoke up. "Hey, where's your sister?"

His question snapped Jaci back to more important matters than her clusterfuck of a love life, like the tragic death of Spawn. "I dunno where she is. No one is anywhere." She replied as she gave a rundown of her trying to get ahold of Vix. "And I tried to call you but…"

"Yeah…we got a little tied up with some stuff." Jax replied as he gave Op and Bobby a _look._

"Um, Vix went with Luann to see a distributor." Lyla offered quietly.

"Where's the dog?" Bobby asked with concern, hoping the poor thing wasn't still just lying in the floor of the porn studio.

Lyla cringed. "In Luann's chest freezer at her house." Everyone stared at her with disbelief. "I think…I think Vix wants it stuffed."

"Jesus Christ." Jax breathed and shook his head.

"That's…that's…VERY Norman Bates, man." Bobby retorted looking more than a little creeped out.

Opie, who was standing at the head of the dining table, joined the conversation and nodded at Bobby. "Don't you have stuffed shit in your house?"

"Well yeah…but not my goddamn pet dog."

Jaci squeezed her eyes shut, not waiting to deal with the idea of having to talk her sister out of pet taxidermy. "How long ago did they leave, Lyla?"

The porn starlet nodded at the guys. "Half hour after them…Lu got a call to meet Devon about European distribution."

"That was six hours ago." Op pointed out with a frown.

Without a word, both Lyla and Jaci pulled out their cellphones and began to try to reach the MIA girls but again they received no answers. Jaci blew out a breath, "I'm going to go make the rounds again, I guess."

"Lu might of taken her on a shopping trip or something, try to cheer up. They're probably up to their asses in bags from a full on mall assault and having dinner somewhere." Bobby offered and then pulled out the seat next to his. "Here, J…just sit, get some grub."

Jaci shook her head as she checked the time on her phone, 8:10 pm. Her urge to leave and find her sister was heightened by the ticking clock, the rest of the crew would be here any minute. She needed to leave now to avoid running into Tig. She shook her head at Bobby. "I can't stay…I really need to go."

She made it all of two steps before Clay, Tig and the rest of the guys walked into the house and the shit officially hit the fan so fast it made heads spin.

"Where the hell have you been?" Clay immediately yelled at Jax. "You too good to answer your damn phones?"

"We were a little busy." Bobby interjected as Jax scowled at his step-father.

Jaci watched as Tig made a beeline for Op and Bobby. "Yeah? Well we almost got killed trying to take our guns back!"

"Club business…not here, asshole!" Bobby seethed as he stepped closer to the head of the table to quiet Tig's loud mouth.

As soon as the words were said, Tig grabbed ahold of Bobby and the pair began pushing and shoving each other. Happy and The Prospect stepped in from behind and managed to pull the pair apart as Jax tried explaining to Clay something about having payback to dish out at Cara Cara but the mention of that just seemed to make everyone madder. "Hopefully that went better than the Trammel task." Tig retorted.

"Blow me, asshole!" Op yelled and then the shoving started up again between himself, Tig and Bobby.

Again, the other guys tried to break it up but Tig was making progress in making his way around the head of the table. He broke free of Op's hands for a second and got in a violent shove that sent Bobby stumbling backwards…right into Jaci.

"Jesus! Fucking stop it!" Jaci yelled as she kept Bobby from falling down and taking a few dining room chairs with him. "There are kids here!" Her voice somehow managed to catch Tig's attention in all the chaos and they locked eyes for a split second.

Tig froze, not caring for a moment that Op and Hap both had a hold of his shoulders. He stared at Jaci and felt a new rage boil inside of him. "What the FUCK is she doing here? I'm not eatin' with that goddamn whore at the table!"

"Watch your fuckin' mouth!" Bobby growled, taking immediate offense to the whore comment even though he didn't fully understand it and pointed at Tig.

Lyla pulled the children closer to her and tried to cover their eyes and ears, an attempt to shield them from the violence and curse words that were flowingly freely but gave up…she didn't have enough hands to shield three kids.

Jaci clenched her jaw, knowing she never should have shown her face at the dinner tonight. Tig was still obviously riled up and looking to put on another show. She took a shaky breath as she stared at her ex. _Complete meltdown in 3…2…1!_

"Not my mouth we should be concerned about…it's HERS…being wrapped around Rosen's dick." Tig fired back with a smirk. Suddenly all the mini fights stopped and everyone focused on Jaci, which was just what he wanted. He couldn't wait to shine the bright light of humiliation on her. With all of the drama of the day, the club had been somewhat divided, no one was talking to the 'other side' and therefore not many knew of the little discovery Tig had made at Lin's.

Bobby's face scrunched in confusion, not sure what the hell Tig was ranting about but it sounded bad. His head snapped around to face Jaci. "Rosen? Really?"

"Hell yeah, caught them making out at Lin's today." Tig explained and waited for Jaci to roar to her own defense but to his disappointment she just stood glaring at him. "We should have been getting breaks on retainer fees for the last goddamn year."

"That's not how it happened and you fuckin' know it." Jaci finally broke her silence, not willing to have people think she had cheated on him the whole time they had been together. "Nothing happened!"

"Nothing's happening NOW… because I scared the shit out of your precious goddamn boyfriend." Tig fired back with a sick laugh.

"FUCK YOU!" Jaci yelled, not able to handle any more of his smugness. She was mortified by the looks everyone was giving her. She skirted past Bobby in one quick, fluid motion and headed straight for Tig. "You're the fuckin' liar. You can't put this shit on me! It's your goddamn black heart that forced the situation!"

"Whoa, whoa whoa!"Bobby's head swiveled to try and keep up with her. He managed to grab her arm and pull her to a stop.

"You better stay put, bitch." Tig said as he jabbed a finger toward her. "Stay the fuck away from me."

"Or what? You gonna stab me?" Jaci asked, her tone mocking and unafraid. All she wanted at the moment was to choke her ex. She was making irrational and dangerous moves but really didn't care.

"Stab her?" Jax questioned with a frown. He knew it took a ton of shit to get Jaci riled up so much. He eyes landed on Tig. "What the fuck did you do?"

"Nothin'." Tig tossed back, dismissing his VP like he didn't matter.

"Shut up!" Gemma yelled and the scene grew quiet. She glared at the faces around the room, mad at all of them for screwing up the nice dinner that was supposed to bring everyone _closer together. _"Everyone take five and calm the fuck down!"

_**XXX**_

After Gemma's harsh instructions, most of the room had cleared with different groups heading different directions. Tara followed Jax onto the back deck where he brooded over a cigarette, Lyla and the kids stayed put with Opie at the table, while Gemma pulled Clay aside in the kitchen. The rest of the crew straggled out the front door.

As Jaci walked with precise determination to her car, she heard footsteps behind her. Someone called her name called but she wasn't stopping. She was done with this night, with this club, with HIS bullshit. Another thought sprung to her mind as the footsteps picked up pace. _If that's Tig, I'm gonna punch him. I'll get beat down worse than my car but I'm gonna hit him._

"Jaci…STOP!"

She turned on her heel and yelled "WHAT?" and found herself face to face with Bobby. She had her right fist clenched and half raised. Bobby put his hands out in mock surrender.

"Where you going?"

"Away." She seethed and set to walking again. He followed behind and when she unlocked her car, he pulled open the passenger side. She glared at him. "Bobby…"

"Let's just sit…for a minute. Just sit." He pleaded. Everyone was upset from the dinner drama and he didn't want to be around most of his brothers right now. What he did want was to find out what in the hell had gone done between Jaci and Tig to warrant the mini World War III that had just erupted.

She plopped inside her car and slammed her door shut with Bobby following suit in the passenger side. He glanced to his left and saw that her hands were shaking in her lap as she stared at her steering wheel. He was pretty amped from the confrontation dinner too. Bobby sighed and scratched his beard and tried to calm them both down. "Well that was like the worst potluck EVER." Jaci stayed silent and he frowned as he stared out of the cracked windshield then noticed the cockeyed rear view mirror. "What happened to your car?"

"Would you believe I hit a deer?" When Bobby just gave her a _no _look, she confessed. "Tig happened to my car…my punishment for the Rosen thing, along with tonight's public humiliation and whatever else he decides to pull." Jaci kept her eyes on her steering wheel. "It was stupid for me to be here tonight. Shit…everything I do lately is stupid. You really shouldn't be sitting here with me, Bobby. I don't wanna cause any trouble for you, making people think you're siding with me."

"So the Rosen thing's true?"

Jaci shook her head and explained. "No…I mean, I could have cheated or whatever but I didn't, pulled up short. But I was having lunch with Rosen today, he was apologizing for some um…awkwardness and Tig was there with Clay, walked in on it. It LOOKED bad and apparently that's all it takes for a conviction with Tig. It's like the Juice and Vix teacher drama times a million. Got really nasty."

"Speak of the goddamn devil." Bobby mumbled as they watched Tig come strolling outside. He came to a stop across the sidewalk from the Mustang and fired up a cigarette, staring at them as he smoked. Bobby saw Jaci tense and straighten up slightly in her seat. "Easy…it's ok. He ain't gonna say anymore shit. He's a complete dick but even he knows when to quit. The Queen hath spoken, the bullshit shall stoppeth." He stared hard at Tig and willed him to have to the self-restraint he had just lied about.

As Tig stared at Jaci and Bobby with narrowed eyes, Happy came to stand beside him and asked for a smoke. Tig handed him one without ever taking his eyes off his ex. Hap was the epitome of calm, just smoking and watching as Tig sneered and flipped the Mustang off. Happy shook his head, thinking _That bitch has waaay too much pull on him._

The only thing to break Tig's concentration was Half Sack walking over to them. "Well, _that _was crazy."

"Get the fuck away from me before I make you a nut-less wonder again." Tig growled without missing a beat. Half Sack frowned but backed up slightly. Tig nodded toward the line of bikes and yelled like he was barking orders to a dog. "GO…GET!" The Prospect hung his head and obliged.

_He's a complete dick. _"Yeah, that's made itself abundantly clear." Jaci sighed and tried not to tear up from being so mad and humiliated. "I can't believe he called me out like that in front of everyone. Well, actually I can believe it." She gave a sad laugh. "God, I should have known better."

"You're lucky the car's all he beat the fuck out of, J. He's not one to piss off." Bobby chided. "But asking Tig to see reason is like asking a rattlesnake not to bite. It's not a matter of IF it's gonna happen, it's more WHEN and WHO'S getting' bit. He's a psycho...you could stay with him a million years and you aren't going to FIX him. He doesn't _want_ to be any different than the piece of shit asshole he is."

"But he's your brother…so you love him anyway?"

Bobby sighed. "Yeah…but I hate him a lot too."

"I know the feeling." Jaci replied quietly.

A long moment of silence passed and Bobby started the open the car door. "Come on, let's go back inside."

"Nooooo. No fuckin' way, Bobby. I'm not going back in there."

He got out of the car and leaned back inside. "Yes, you are. If you really didn't do anything wrong, you gotta face the music. Run now and you look guilty...well, _more _guilty."

"Motherfucker." Jaci muttered but knew he was right. She had taken enough shit, it was time to stand up for herself but she knew she was walking a thin line. In the MC world, a lot of times women were meant to be seen not heard but then again, they were expected to be strong and not take any shit from anyone, well except for the men. But at the same time, no one respected a doormat. She took a deep breath and opened her door. She walked along the sidewalk to the house with Bobby right next to her. Half Sack saw them and fell into line with them, just wanting to get the dinner over with as soon as possible.

"Are you fuckin' kidding me?" Tig yelled as he watched his ex head back inside.

Bobby turned around long enough to point at him and yell, "Behave yourself, asshole! Show's over!"

"Goddamnit." Tig muttered and stewed as he stared down at the gravel. _Bitch's got a lot of nerve showing her goddamn face here tonight. _But he also figured he had gotten in some pretty damn good blows earlier, calling her out in front of everyone. He hoped that had stung her as bad as the shit Lin had pulled with him. He stared at her wreck of a car and didn't feel the least bit bad about it, matter of fact he let his mind wander over the idea of dropping the remainder of his cigarette in her car somehow and burning it to the ground.

Hap finished his cigarette and cleared his throat. "Always heard that if something had tits or wheels, it's gonna give ya trouble." His statement was serious, as if it was a known fact of life but it got Tig's attention and earned a snort of laughter. Hap shook his head. "That one's trouble, bro. Too goddamn headstrong…put her in the rearview." He backhanded his friend gently across the chest. "Let's go…better play nice this time or Clay'll have our ass for upsetting the dinner."

Tig rolled his eyes but crushed his cigarette out under his boot and walked back inside along Happy.

_**XXX**_

The most awkward dinner ever was now underway. Everyone had taken a seat, chosen strategically to put the maximum distance between themselves and whomever they were having the most trouble with at the moment. Well, except for Tig…he sat down right across from Jaci and gave her a stare that would have sent most people cowering away but she only glared back and shook her head slowly in disgust with him.

The room was completely silent with none of the adults willing to talk to each other. The only sounds were the white noise of clinking plates and forks as people passed food platters and loaded their plates. Gemma watched people trade glares as they picked aimlessly at their food. She tried to drag small talk out of the kids, hoping that would serve as an ice breaker and some part of the dinner could be saved.

The dinner limped along for a while before the silence was suddenly broken by Tig of all people. "Did you just fuckin' kick me?" He glared at Jaci, who sat across from him.

She gave him an exasperated look. _God he can be such a petulant five year old sometimes._ She tried to keep her voice even "No, I didn't kick you."

"So I'm just _imagining_ your boot impaling my shin?"

"Leave her alone." Jax growled as he glanced over at Tig, who sat two people down from him.

Clay glared at his stepson, "Mind your own business. You spent a little less time poking your nose into shit that doesn't concern you, we'd all be better off."

"Oh really?" Jax retorted.

"_Jackson_." Gemma hissed, hoping to urge her son into keeping his cool.

"No, no…I want to hear what the _wisdom_ the old man has to share here." Jax fired back as he stared down Clay and threw his napkin onto his plate. "What exactly am I supposed to keep my nose out of? You got a list of shit I'm supposed to turn a blind eye to?"

"Keep talkin', asshole." Clay warned.

"Oh, I will." Jax replied and pushed his chair back.

As soon as he stood up, all hopes for a peaceful rest of the dinner were lost. Clay was on his feet a half second later and a new round of argument erupted between the two. The other members abandoned their plates and started to make their way to the other end of the table, knowing they'd probably have to break up another shoving match.

Clay and Jax stood yelling at each other as Bobby tried to talk sense into his President. "Clay, come on, just calm down."

Tig leaned across the table on his hands and stared smugly at Jaci. "Look at what you started."

"Fuck. You." She replied slowly and directly as she stood up. The barbs between the two heated up again and both were making their way very quickly to the head of the table and behind Clay, who was completely focused on ripping into Jax.

Bobby gave up on quieting his Pres and VP and focused on trying to prevent physical contact between the squabbling ex-lovers with the help of Opie which worked until Jaci finally edged close enough to Tig to slap his finger out of her face. When Tig slapped her hand in return, Bobby lunged for him, sending Half Sack and Happy in once again to try and break things up as Opie hauled Jaci backwards a few steps.

With all the chaos going on, no one noticed Deputy Hale as he walked slowly into the dining from the back kitchen door. He stood silent for a moment and then finally said in a loud voice, "I hate to interrupt…"

Everyone froze and stared at the officer, all thinking the same questions, _Where did he come from? Why the hell is he here? What's going on?_

Hale cleared his throat, "I thought this news was best delivered in person. We just found Luann Delany out on County 18…beaten to death."

The harsh news sucked the wind out of everyone's argumentative sails. Silence held heavy in the air and the dinner party looked to each other and back to Hale, trying to comprehend the news.

Bobby managed to mumble _Shit _before Clay kicked a whole in the silence. He glared at Jax, "Is this you?"

"What?" Jax asked incredulously.

"The shit with Cara Cara…did you cause this?"

"You're really gonna stand there and accuse me of killing old ladies?" Jax scoffed. "You're as blind as you are crippled!"

Clay punched the air between he and Jax violently with his finger. "Nooo…the blind man is in prison with NO WIFE because you just got her killed!"

Jaci winced at the madness and shared a worried look with Tara before putting the palms of her hands on her forehead. This dinner had gotten so beyond out of control. Gemma finally reached her tipping point. The yelling and fighting was too much on top of the news of her friend being brutally murdered. She looked down at the table and lifted a serving platter high above her head before slamming it down on the table, shattering it and sending food flying everywhere. The crash grabbed everyone's attention and once again silence filled the room.

The silence held for one long moment before Jaci's mind finally started firing correctly and she blinked. "Wait, where's Vix? What…what about Vix?" The raw emotion in her voice caught everyone's attention and they stared at her.

Hale shook his head, confused. "Vix wasn't there."

Jaci frowned and started a verbal scramble. "Hostage? Missing? Is she dead somewhere else?"

"Vix was with Luann, last we knew." Jax clarified for the deputy sheriff.

Hale nodded. "I'll put out an APB. Best I can say is Vix was not found at the scene."

"Shit." Jaci mumbled and sat down hard in the nearest seat she could find. She sucked in a deep breath and stared the table, picturing the worst but praying for the best in the case of her sister's fate. Bobby put his hand on her shoulder and looked over at Jax, silently asking what they should do.

Jax thought for a second then nodded to Hale. "You do the APB, we'll start re-tracing steps. Start with that distributor."

The deputy nodded his agreement in return and left without another word. Clay wanted to say something about the new found ease of cooperation between his stepson and Hale but kept his mouth shut, knowing that one more blow up would have them re-enacting the beat down they had dished out while in county lockup.

Jaci stood up, nearly vibrating with Bobby's hand still on her shoulder. She stared at her brother in law with a fierce intensity. Everyone seemed frozen in place, but it was time to DO SOMETHING. Her sister was _somewhere_, it was time to go find her. Standing around staring at each other was going to do a damn thing to help the situation. Finally she spoke through gritted teeth, "Jax…"

"Yeah, let's go." Jax replied and nodded toward the door. Jaci darted around the crowd at the head of the table and made a beeline for the door with Bobby right behind her. Jax didn't ask for any help from the other guys, figuring if they wanted to pitch in, they'd tag along.

_**XXX**_

Outside, the trio gathered and were surprised to see everyone but Clay trailing out of the house. Half Sack and Opie walked directly to them but Jax accepted only the Prospect's offer of help, instructing Opie to make sure both their families got home safe that night. Op reluctantly obliged and headed back inside to gather up Lyla, Tara, and the kids.

They rattled off the obvious places that needed to be checked for Vix and Jaci added, "Someone really needs to check the hospital to see if she's with Juice. Maybe she's made her way there by now?"

Bobby nodded. "If she ain't anywhere in town, she's probably with him." He glanced at Jaci. "Me and you…let's just head that way. Hell, we could call but the damn nurses might miss her. If she is there, all this horrible news is gonna be better coming from you." He had slightly dark motives for wanting Jaci out of town. If something horrible had happened to Vix and she had suffered a fate similar to Luann's, he wanted J as far away from seeing that as possible. A nice drive to Stockton Memorial would give Jax and the guys time to maybe get out in front of any horrific news.

Jaci agreed to the drive. She hated leaving Charming in the heat of the moment but at least it was something proactive, there was no way she could just sit at home with her thumb up her ass, let the guys do all the footwork and wait for their call. 

Jax and Half Sack started to get settled on their bikes as Jaci headed to her car. Bobby held up a finger. "Hey, let me grab my bike keys. Tigger's in a mood, wouldn't put it past the fucker to drive my bike into the goddamn ocean. Be right back."

Bobby was putting his keys in his pocket when Tig and Hap walked up behind him.

"What the fuck Vix'd do now?" Tig asked.

"You're such a prick! She's fuckin' missing, could be hurt or worse and THAT'S all you have to say?" Bobby seethed and turned to face his brother in arms, wanting to punch the smug shit so bad but restraining himself.

"Fuck you, you fat bastard." Tig replied with a combative smirk, completely in the mood to fight and wishing the guy would throw a punch and start it off. He took a step toward Bobby and immediately felt Hap's hand on his shoulder.

"Not worth it, bro. Relax."

Bobby flipped him off and headed toward the Mustang. Tig snorted and rolled his eyes. For the moment his heart had went completely cold again, incapable of feeling any concern or sympathy for anyone. The whole goddamn day and now night had been a total clusterfuck and there was nothing to be done to fix it. He needed to get away from all the bullshit of the day, he needed seriously distracted. He needed something shiny dangled in front of his face to grab his attention and what was shinier than a piece of ass? His mind immediately flashed on a Lodi strip club and a certain woman that would know exactly how to handle him tonight. Tig looked over to Happy and smirked. "Hey, let's get the fuck out of here. Make a run up to that strip club in Lodi."

Hap heard his brother's invite and almost nodded but as he eyed the piss poor search crew, he decided they looked a little short-handed. He shook his head slightly once and said only, "Raincheck." He walked toward Jax and Half Sack, intent on helping to find Vix.

It was clear the crew was divided and some might think he was crossing sides but he didn't really give a fuck. He was Nomad, his loyalty was with the Club as a whole and right now one brother's Old Lady was dead and another one's might be in serious trouble. Strip clubs could wait and club politics could wait too, tonight he was doing the right thing.

"Where the fuck are you going?" Tig called after Hap. He was more than pissed that the Nomad had just jumped to Jax's side after riding alongside Clay all day. Sure the Prospect had done the same thing but Half Sack was young and dumb and functioned like an attention starved puppy most days, going where ever he got the most pats on the head. Hap was a seasoned vet, he should know better than to be pandering to every damn member of the crew. Or maybe Tig was just bitter and pissed off and nothing anyone did that night was going to suit him…that thought had crossed his mind too. He watched the bikes roll out and the Mustang with its one headlight follow behind them with Bobby at the wheel. The strip club's neon sign flashed like a beacon in his mind. "Fuck it…more for me." He muttered and headed to his own bike and very different destination.

_**XXX**_

Jax, Happy, and the Prospect didn't get far in their search for Vix, making it only to the parking lot of Twisted Scissors before Hale called the VP. Vix had been found alive but not so well and was currently a block away from the Bryony Apts. The three man search party headed over to the location in a rush only to find Hale and Officer Candy's cruisers parked with lights flashing behind Ruby's Torino. Vix was stood with her back leaning against the car, arms crossed over her chest with a very combative look on her face. The ugly purple bruises around her neck were visible even before the guys got off their bikes.

"Where you been?" Jax asked his sister in law but immediately looked at Hale with a frown. "Think you could kill the lights? Make this into a little LESS of a spectacle?"

Vix eyed her brother in law. "You do this? Put an APB out on me? Gemma THAT strict with her dinner invites? Damn!"

After signaling Candy to turn off the flashing red and blues, Hale sighed and pulled Jax away from the others, out of ear shot. "Says she was _napping_, says Luann dropped her off at Cara Cara. Says she got Ruby's car and went to her and Juice's apartment and took a nap."

Jax contemplated the words and her harsh appearance. "The bruises?"

Hale rolled his eyes. "Rough day shopping with Luann…or so she claims."

"Sales at Niemen Marcus ... _brutal_."

The deputy knew he wasn't going to get anywhere with Vix now, not with three Sons standing around. If she was jerking him around before, she'd just clam up completely now. He stared seriously at Jax. "Look, she was likely the last one to see Luann alive - except whoever killed her. I need an official statement and preferably one a little less dripping in bullshit. I don't know if I buy the nap scenario but I honestly don't think she knows about Luann. If she does, I'd nominate her for an Emmy."

Jax nodded and eyed Hap and Sack as they stood talking to Vix. He glanced back at the deputy. "I'll see what I can do." Hale walked off without a word and motioned for Candy to pull up shop as well. Jax pulled out his cell and called Bobby, hoping to stop them before they headed too far in the wrong direction. "We found Vix…still breathing, pretty beat up. Meet us back at Parker Place."

_**XXX**_

At Parker Place, the living room was silent even though Jax, Happy, Half Sack and Vix were all standing around in it. They heard the rumble of the Mustang outside and Vix started toward the door, suddenly wanting to see her sister.

Bobby hadn't even pulled the car to a stop before Jaci was jumping out and rushing up the walkway to the house. Right as she reached the threshold, Vix opened the door and stepped out. The yellow cast from the porch light did her no favors and Jaci sucked in a breath, shocked at the rough sight of her sister.

"Spawn's dead." Vix blurted.

Jaci nodded and laid a hand on her sister's arm. "I know."

"Something else happened didn't it?" Vix asked with nervousness obvious in her voice.

Jaci eyed her sister for a second and glanced at the other guys, most of them with various states of unpleasantness on their faces. She swallowed hard and then replied quietly, "Yeah, sweetie…something happened."

"It ain't Juice." Happy said from the doorway and everyone nodded in agreement, forgetting that was probably where Vix's mind was going.

Bobby cleared his throat. "Why don't we take this a little more inside? Girl looks like if she don't sit down, she's gonna fall down."

Oddly Vix eyed Hap for guidance. He nodded once at her and then once towards the house. She sighed and turned back around, walking into the living with Hap following close behind.

Jaci eyed Jax. "Where was she? What happened to her?"

Jax could only shrug. "She ain't talking…fed Hale some bullshit story. He wants an official statement. "

"Yeah… well maybe her official statement is 'fuck you'." Jaci retorted.

Bobby shook his head. "Everyone just calm down. She'll talk when she's ready. She didn't know about Luann so clearly what ever happened to Vix happened earlier, right?" He pushed Jaci gently toward the living room. "Go on…she'll talk to you quicker than any of us."

Jaci brushed past Jax and headed for her sister. Bobby started to follow but pulled up short, suddenly hissing, "Goddamnit!"

Jax frowned. "What now?"

"The dog..." Bobby whispered, not wanting a very distressed Vix to overhear their conversation. "Spawn's in Luann's goddamn freezer."

"Shit."

"How the hell we gonna get that? Gonna break into a murdered lady's house to retrieve a damn murdered dog?"

"Well I doubt Hale'd just hand it over. Probably send it to the damn crime lab." Jax retorted and thought for a second. "Cops are crawling all over her house right now. They'll probably pull out in the morning though. I'll put Hap and Sack on dog retrieval duty first thing."

**~TBC**

Do yourselves a favor and check out Paramore's song, Decode. It was playing in BG's head while writing the dinner scene, really fits with everyone's confused, combative state of mind.

_How can I decide what's right __  
__When you're clouding up my mind' __  
__I can't win your losing fight , all the time. __  
__  
__Not gonna ever own what's mine __  
__When you're always taking sides' __  
__But you won't take away my pride. __  
__No, not this time. __  
__  
__How did we get here?__  
__When I used to know you so well. __  
__But how did we get here?__  
__Well, I think I know. __  
__  
__The truth is hiding in your eyes,and it's hanging on your tongue. __  
__Just boiling in my blood. but you think that I can't see __  
__What kind of man that you are, If you're a man at all. __  
__Well, I will figure this one out…On my own. _

_Do you see what we've done?  
We've gone and made such fools of ourselves... _


	26. Chapter 23 Spilss

**Walk Away from the Son****  
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SoA  
****Chapter 23- Spills**

**By BG and Reaper**

**Take NOTE: we are staying Canon for as long as we can – with the exception that FX and Sutter have up and decided to change Juice's name from Jean to Juan. (even went so far as to redub some audio from S3 prior to DVD release)... that is just stupid and makes those of us who paid attention from the very beginning (and, I might add, have official documentation to prove Juice's ORIGINAL NAME) look like dumbasses. He is and always will be JEAN-Carlos Ortiz who is half Puerto Rican, half English in Parkerland! Reaper's Rant to an end cometh!**

**Ok, one more – since those of you who read from the beginning might recall – The Parker sisters rolled into Charming at Valentines time. In Parkerland more time has passed and Abel (as hinted at in a previous chapter) is 1 year old (making it February Ha! So the lyric below is appropriate on too many levels to count!**

_But February made me shiver, with every paper I'd deliver bad news on the doorstep, I couldn't take one more step..._

_~Don McLean, American Pie_

**XXX**

The only light source on the back deck was the glow of the embers in the fire pit and the burning end of Hap's cigarette. "How you feelin' kid?"

Vix slumped down into the wicker love-seat next to the chair he was occupying, pulling her feet up and hugging them to her chest. She sighed heavily, "If there is a word in existence to describe how i feel, I don't know it."

He watched her fiddle with the wrist cuffs of her hoodie, tucking her hands up inside. Her head swiveled in his direction, but with her face in shadow he heard her clear her throat. Vix Parker was ready to talk. Happy wasn't surprised it taken her half the night, _Parker_ was synonymous with close-vestedness. Short of assuring her older sister she was _fine,_ Vix hadn't spoken another word after Jaci had broken the news of Luann's death. They'd watched her head down the hall and lock herself in her old bedroom, leaving them all in the dark about how she'd ended up beaten up. With the black cloud hovering over all of them, the Sons had agreed that the Parkers should not be left alone. The Nomad had offered to hang at Parker Place, keep an eye on Juice's old lady and her sister, Jax and Bobby said they'd stop by in the morning and The Prospect had been instructed to meet Hap at Luann's house with a van at dawn.

"I never killed anyone before..."

Hap sat extremely still, "You didn't kill Luann, Vix."

"Not directly but J said she was beat to death, I don't believe you guys don't have a line on who, but even if you don't... I do."

"Yeah? Who's that, darling?'"

"Georgie Caruso... if he didn't do it himself, he ordered it, just like sent his goons to Cara Cara - that killed my Spawn-baby, just like he'd made that distributor Devon lure Luann to Redwood City, they knew we were comin' and knew we'd have to park in that underground garage cause they knew there was never any parkin' at Devon's office across the street. They were waitin' on us, cut the lights…" She blew out a steadying breath. "I've what-if'd everything, every second of what happened. What I coulda or shoulda done different... "

"What you DID was get you and Lu outta there... I'm proud of you."

Vix heaved a wry laugh, "What I DID was beat a guy with a tire iron and shoot at another..."

"You missed?"

"On purpose...fucker slit my baby's throat, shootin' him woulda been too kind... and I didn't have a knife on me."

A chuckle bubbled forth outta Hap "I change my mind... I'm VERY proud of you... and a little scared of you too." He shook another cigarette out of the pack he pulled from inside his cut and lit up. Offering one to Vix, he leaned forward to offer her a light as well and inquired, "Where's the hardware now?"

After a long drag and slow exhale Vix replied, "Gun's in the top drawer of the dresser in the bedroom. Tire iron's under the driver's seat of Ruby's Torino. The jeans and hoodie I was wearin' are in a garbage bag in the trunk of the car. Please tell me you don't need my boots, Juice just got 'em for me... early anniversary gift, day y'all got locked up... like he knew he'd miss it. He is gonna lose his shit when he sees me lookin' like this."

"Probably, but it's better than the alternative." He watched Vix flick her ashes in the fire pit. "Guys that jumped you were Georgie's?"

"Yeah... one tried to recruit me."

"Guess that was before you shot at him, hmm?" Hap finished his cigarette. "And the other one, you know if he was still breathin'?"

"He was groanin' when I left, I don't know how he faired. I swung with everything I had and there was a lotta blood on my clothes, a majority of it not mine."

"You step in any?"

"Hard to say."

"Probably gonna need the boots, sorry kid."

Vix cursed and stood up and he watched her walk into the house. She returned a minute later with the boots and the gun, setting both of them on the deck floor. "I know you say I didn't cause her to get killed... but I still feel like shit. Maybe I shoulda stayed with her."

"We'd just be burying you too, Vix."

She bit her bottom lip, her nose scrunched up, cute as hell. She was fiercely loyal and in possession of bigger balls than some dudes he knew. His brother may be considered a retard in many ways but Juice was smart as hell to lay claim to Vix Parker. She was a looker, even with a swollen top lip, a goose egg on her temple ... and the bruises he knew without a doubt would look far worse in the morning light than they had at first sight, and they'd been plenty nasty then. She was wrong though 'bout one thing, her old man wasn't gonna lose his _shit_...Juice was gonna lose his mind. Hap stood up and crushed his cigarette butt in the ashtray on the edge of the fire pit wall. "Where're the keys to the Torino?"

Vix pulled them outta the front pocket of her hoodie. "Thanks, Hap."

"Yeah, go get some sleep...take somethin' if you gotta."

"Yep."

_**XXX **_

The sun was just peeking over the horizon when Happy and Sack arrived at 379 N. Philodendron Street. The Prospect killed the engine of the black utility van and the two made their way around the back of the Delaney home after seeing that the cops had indeed cleared the premises. As they approached the backdoor leading into the garage, Kipp asked, "Hey, um...you think Luann hid a spare key. I don't think Jax want us kickin' the door in or..."

Hap took out his cell phone. "I got an _APP_ for that."

Sack cocked his head, disbelieving. "Really? What, Lu have like electronic locks or some shi..." The Prospect was silenced mid-word as he watched the Nomad take the butt of his cell phone and smash the lower left panel of glass on the door. Using the phone, he cleared the glass shards out of the small window square before reaching in and unlocking the door.

"Let's find the fuckin' dobie-cicle and get the hell outta here." Hap instructed as he pushed the door open and entered the home.

"There's the freezer." Sack said nodding at the chest freezer against the opposite wall of the garage. Walking over he popped the lid and groaned, "Oh man!"

Hap glared again. "What? It's in there, right?" A second later he was staring down at the four frozen dog paws. "Where's the rest of him?"

Kipp nervously scratched his head, "I ...I think he's under the ice cream."

_**XXX **_

Arriving back at TM, Clay spotted Hap and the Prospect with the van. Hap was walking out of the garage with a hacksaw. Clay frowned, "Unsuccessful body snatching?"

Hap shook his head. "Nah, we got him."

"Good. Do I want to know what the saw is for?"

"Well," Kipp cleared his throat, "Dog's sorta frozen like this…" Thrusting his arms straight out in front of him, he gave a demonstration of the riggored Dobie. He quickly lowered them upon seeing Clay's expression and nervously scratched his head, again. "And well we don't know what Vix's plans are but we may have to you know..." A crazed sorta laugh escaped him as he pantomimed sawing. He abruptly waved them off, "I'll ah... go wait in the van."

The SAMCRO President and the Nomad watched the Prospect scamper off. "What's on your plate for the rest of the day?"

"Not ice cream" Hap muttered with an odd grin. "O Town with Vix. She's gotta pick up The Olds from the airport."

"Airport Escort, wasn't aware of the expanded duties of our Nomad charter."

"Favor for a brother…Juice. If he knew 'bout all of this shit goin' down, wouldn't want his family unprotected. Last I knew we still didn't have a lead on where Caruso is..."

"Thailand... headed out this morning, calling it a buying trip." Clay advised, "But speaking of Juice, got someone we need intel on. Need it yesterday."

"Got a name?"

"His Honor Anthony Franklin...INS judge."

XXX

_Started with a perfect kiss_

_Then we could feel the poison set in,_

_Perfect couldn't keep this love alive…_

_You know that I love you so, _

_I love you enough…to let you go_

Jaci laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling as the pop song droned on from her clock radio about knowing when love was wrong and being smart enough to let go. The _Already Gone _tune was striking some very raw emotional tones with her given the dysfunctional state of things with Tig. She had actually played this song over and over the _first _time a breakup with Tig had occurred, right after Donna's death but it looked like the lyrics were still extremely relevant.

As bad as the blow up with Tig had been yesterday, the roadside massacre of her car, the public humiliation at the potluck…she still couldn't just let him go. Over the last year, the wound of them had been gashed open, healed closed, ripped open again and sewn back hastily a few times. But now that wound was infected, it was ugly but not seeping but Jaci wasn't sure a quick peroxide bubble bath was going to do any real good. This time she needed closure…permanent closure, whether good or bad. And maybe the American Idol winner was right, she needed to walk away…but she'd never know if she didn't try to talk to Tig one last time.

"Goddamn you, Kelly Clarkson." She muttered and slapped the clock's off switch. A moment later there was a soft knock on her door. She leaned up slightly and stared at the door only to see it push open and Vix's sleepy face appear.

"You awake?"

"Yeah...I just don't wanna get out of bed…ever." Jaci replied as she sat up.

Vix gave a weak smile. "Me neither." She walked across the room and crawled onto the empty side of the bed and flopped down next to her big sister, just like she had done a million times while they were growing up.

Jaci looked over at her little sister, taking her bruised neck and thinking about the drama of the night before. "Spill it, chica. I let you slide last night but I need to hear it all, sister. You and me are way too out of touch. There are waaay too many riffs in this town right now; the Parker Connection needs to be solid."

"Well, prepare yourself, sis…it's pretty goddamn brutal." Vix replied but spent the next fifteen minutes telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth to her sister. She started with the horror of find out about Spawn's murder and ended with the parking garage smackdown between her, Luann and Georgie's goons. After she finished, she gave Jaci a minute or two to process the dramatic details and then ventured a familiar act…she asked for J's advice. Yes, she was a grown ass adult but facts were facts, Jaci was full of goddamn wisdom.

"Do you think I did the right thing, J? I mean really? I haven't told Juice about any of this shit…he is going to absolutely flip his fuckin' lid. I just …. I was tryin' to spare him. You havent' seen him... he looks so pale and tiny all laid up in that hospital bed. "

"Shhhh." Jaci soothed and reached to touch her sister's arm, ending the panicked rant that was starting to brew. "You did everything right, Vix. Well other than not finding ME and telling me about this shit so I didn't have to think you were dead on the side of the road too. You did the right thing by protecting you and Luann like that, it was a no-brainer. And not telling Juice…you _had_ to shelter him from this shit for a while, Vix. Your reasoning was right, there was nothing he could to help the situation. Matter of fact, anything he would have done would have HURT the situation and himself...which hurts the Club. And you didn't lie to him, sis…you just delayed the truth for good reason."

Vix nodded along, she had known she was right, it just felt good to get some familiar assurance. Jaci nudged her one more time. "But…you better get your ass up to the hospital and tell Juice about all this shit ASAP. Your man doesn't need to hear about all of this second hand from someone."

"Yep, I'm set to roll out for a day full of fun….just wanted to talk to you first." Vix replied then waved her hand around. "Ok, enough about me. What's going on with you? What have I missed?"

Jaci sighed heavily, "Well, let's see...I almost fucked Rosen the night the guys got locked up, Tig found out about it because I got ratted out by the owner of that Chinese place we like in Oakland. Had a massive ballistic blowup including a very intense screaming match in the middle of Gemma's potluck dinner, Tig was serving up public humiliation. Half the club thinks I'm a slut and I guess Tig and I hate each other. And oh yeah, if I'm preaching complete honesty here...I've had a bit of a medical condition that I've been hiding from you for a few months." Jaci watched Vix's mouth fall open in surprise. "Yeah, little sister, you're not the only one with secrets and drama. My life isn't nearly as boring as you think it is."

"Holy shit! Say what?"

It was Jaci's turn to spill all of her beans and she did for the most part, only leaving out the gruesome details of Tig's car beat down. For some reason she couldn't own up to being a part of that and told Vix that vandals had done the damage while she worked in Oakland. She covered her medical drama and the blow by blow details of the Potluck from Hell and all the crazy riffs that seemed to be brewing with the club.

"Ok, first things first…this blood pressure shit, are you ok? I mean _really_ ok. You CANNOT stroke out on me. You can't pull a stunt like Dad…here one day, gone the next sorta shit."

"I'm fine. I've been taking the pills for months and they're doing what they're supposed to do. BP is looking great and I'm not having any issues. Even with all this crazy ass stress, things are holding steady. Mentally, I might need a crying jag but physically, I'm fine."

"Ok, good…second question. Does Tig's dick taste like apple pie? I mean, Jesus Christ, J! How much shit are you going to take from this asshole? I don't get it. It's like he's a drug and your fuckin' addicted or something. But he's a devil in disguise, a snake with blue eyes and you're gonna rue the day you ever met him, J."

Jaci couldn't help but smile in confusion. "Rue? Really?"

"Hey, I'm in college goddamnit. My vocab is expanding."

"You know you sorta just quote Cowboy Casanova to me?"

"If the shoe fits…"

"I know, I know. Him and me…it's a fucked up mess. But I'm going to get it figured out. I just need to talk him…maybe later today, we've had some time to settle down."

"Hmmph. I bet that goes fuckin' _great_."

"What are you doing today?" Jaci asked, effectively changing the subject.

"I gotta head out to the airport; pick up Mr. and Mrs. Henry Darling and the rest of the Olds." Vix sighed. "Ya know I'm glad Juice is still in the hospital cause I gotta shit ton of info for the Intelligence Officer and between Ruby and Henry gettin' hitched, the murders of Spawn and Luann he may have a stroke... that is if he doesn't have a heart attack at the sight of me."

"Oh, you're not goin' to Oakland alone... talk to Sack."

"Nah... Happy." Vix corrected and saw her sister blink in surprise. "He offered... and I ... I honestly welcome the shadow."

_**XXX **_

"Made some banana bread, wanna piece? Still warm." Bobby offered to Clay. Instead the increasingly onry SAMCRO President told him to _shut the door. _

"Unser just picked up three of your cum-divas in a low rent hooker sting. "

"Shit."

"I knew getting into porn was a bad call... I want us out."

"Losin' Luann was awful but we got other directors...Cara Cara is in full swing. It's a solid money maker."

"It's DIRTY. And I'm DONE with it!" Clay seethed. "Liquidate. You sell off whatever you can. "

"Porn was Jax's deal. We all voted _yes_." Bobby reminded.

"CLOSE IT DOWN." Clay demanded. "I'll handle the _Little Prince_."

_**XXX **_

Sack pulled open the back door of the van and stared at the carcass of Vix's dead dog. "You don't think she's really gonna stuff this thing, do ya?"

"Her prerogative...grab the ass end. I'll get his head." Hap muttered.

The door to the house opened as they carried the body into the garage. Jaci walked a few feet toward them. 'Gonna need to move that van, getting ready to roll out to work." She eyed the frozen remains of the dog. "How'd they get him in Lu's freezer with his legs like that?"

"They musta taken everything out of it cause he was stuck in, spine down, legs up and like six gallons of vanilla ice cream were stuck back in all around him." Sack advised.

Hap upnodded at Jaci. "Where's your sister?"

"Out back digging a hole, she agreed to bury him in my back yard" Jaci replied but frowned. "But unless we um, re-position his legs…" She eyed Sack and Hap trying to stress that she wasn't too keen on heaping on more insults to what had already been done to the poor pup. "Hole's gonna need to be real damn big."

"Two options... break 'em or cut 'em off." Hap answered simply, "Swung by TM for a hacksaw, just in case."

"OR... or... maybe, ya know… it be better to cremate him. Vix could put his ashes in a nice little urn or one of those pet mausoleum thingies." Kipp offered.

"Sorry, Kipp…but where we come from, beloved pets are buried in the backyard, under a tree. They are not torched and ground up and dumped into a ceramic pot or shoved in some weird-ass drawer at a cemetery." Jaci advised.

"I'll help her dig. Vix won't want his legs broken or sawed off on top of ..." The prospect waved at the body and sighed as he headed towards the back yard to dig yet another grave.

"How many shovels you got?" Hap asked.

**XXX**

"You are the love of my life and my future... will you marry me?"

Vix's eyebrow shot up her forehead, her lips parted slightly and then she snickered and pressed her lips tightly together to contain her amused laugh. Shaking her head, she laughed. "That is the tackiest thing I think I've ever witnessed."

From the seat next to her, Happy emitted a "Hhmm." and shook his head as he watched the buxom brunette, twenty feet away from them in the transit lounge at Oakland International. The chick spazzed out but finally choke out a 'yes!' to the dorky-bond-trader-lookin' dumbass still on bended knee in front of her. "What time's the flight supposed to get here?"

"According to the automated flight information, The Olds have landed. Ain't been on a plane in a long damn time so I have no idea how long it'll take 'em to get through the gates and shit." Vix replied then looked over at Hap. "Thanks for taggin' along today. At least if you're driving Henry Darling will have one less thing to bitch about."

"I heard that..." announced the grumpy voice of His Truly.

Vix gasped and spun around, a huge smile spreading on her face as she shot up outta the chair to her feet "Grandma Ruby! Ms. Sadie! Ms. Millie! Darling. How are my world travelers?"

"We're lovely, dear. How have things been back home...Holy Mother Mary,what? What happened to you?" Ruby exclaimed, sitting her carry-on bag down on the floor with a thud.

Vix reached up gingerly and fingered the scarf she'd looped around her neck. It had obviously failed in its purpose to cover up the worst of the bruising. She waved off Ruby's concern, "It looks worse than it feels..."

"It looks like Hell." Millie advised.

"Ok, I take that back, that's exactly what it feels like. It's ...it's ... "

"Something you can talk about in the van." Came the gravelly voice of Hap to aid in ending what would have turned into a game of 20-questions to the _nth_ power.

Ruby's head shot up and she looked surprised at seemingly just noticing Hap's presence, "oh, hello, William... nice to see you, dear."

Hap forged away the anger at the usage of his given name. Ruby called everybody by their Christian names. How the old woman ever learned that officially he was William Montalvo, he would like to know. Instead, he nodded in reverence to Juice's grandma, "Mmm hmm"

"Where is Jean-Carlos?"

"Um, he's not here... it's just me and Hap." Vix went to inform before her voice caught. "It's..."

"Something you can talk about in the van." Hap mumbled again.

Ruby's face hardened slightly and her chin jutted up, "Is Jean responsible?

"For this?" Vix couldn't keep the shocked value out of her voice as she once again fingered her bruised throat. "NO! No... Juice and me, we're good. Jesus. Ruby... this ... this is something else."

Henry cleared his throat, "Perhaps we should move along to the baggage claim."

Ruby nodded and let her husband take her arm and guide her along in the direction everyone in the place seemed to be headed. Vix watched Millie and Sadie fall in behind The Darlings. She held back and eyed the Son next to her, "I never thought that would be her first assumption, Hap... sweet Lord!" Vix sniffled, she couldn't help herself.

_**XXX**_

Jax rode onto the lot at TM and was backing in his Dyna as Bobby approached. "How'd it go with the Chinese?"

"Ok."

Jax noticed the fat man's pensive look, "What?"

"Clay heard what happened to the porn girls. Between that and Luann, he wants me to kill Cara Cara."

"It's club action, he can't shut it down."

"He don't give a shit."

"Someone _paid_ our girls to be on Darby's roster... wanted them to get busted. You think Clay needed an excuse to shut me down?"

Shaking his head sadly Bobby admitted, "I'm not sure I know what either one of you would do any more."

Jax strode purposefully into the clubhouse. He found Tig and Clay in the Chapel, looking over area maps. "We NEED Cara Cara. It's our ONLY club income."

"Gun biz is back online." Clay responded. "We're done with _pussy_."

"Just for a minute, _try_ to think past this bullshit between you and me. Porn is a legitimate business."

Clay sneered. "So is auto repair and _that_ don't make my skin crawl."

Jax begged his President to take a look at their run with guns over the last few years, how they had lost more than they had earned in both money and blood. But Clay didn't want to hear and assured him all that was going to change but Jax doubted the Chinese were some great fix-all. And after Bobby told him the guns were really coming from Hamas, Jax was shocked and scoffed, "Jesus Christ! THAT's where you're putting the future of the club?"

"SAMCRO deals guns!" Clay yelled. "You had your little romp as Porn King. You've tied us to prostitution and got a member's old lady killed."

"You're really gonna stand there and lay the guilt of a dead wife on me?" Jax asked through gritted teeth.

Clay eyed him seriously, "You remember that promise I made?"

"Let me make it easy for ya…" Jax pulled out his handgun and laid it on the table in front of his President. He turned around, giving him a chance to take his _best shot._

After a long and extremely tense moment that had the other Sons in the room wondering what the hell was going on, Clay decided to pass on keepin' his promise, engaged the safety on the gun and put in back on the table.

Jax turned back around and has he picked up his gun said, "You need a majority vote to shut down Cara Cara."

Everyone watched the VP stride out of the clubhouse.

_**XXX**_

Gramma Ruby and Vix always said nothing good happened on soap operas save for _Cliffhanger Fridays_ and from what Juice could gather, they must be right because it wasn't even half-past 2pm and he'd been a witness to a kidnaping, an attempted vehicular homicide, a shocking revelation of paternal identity that lead to the realization that said Daddy had been about commit incest with own daughter, someone miraculously survive a combo stroke/heart attack/aneurysm only to have Nurse Naughty shoot poison into their IV and at least 14 different couples having sex.

"Not too shabby." He mumbled to himself as he hit the button on the remote, stopping at the next channel. "Ooooh, Springer!" He said fully aloud then smiled as the subject matter of today's freak parade came onto the screen: _Liars, Cheaters and Sex Fiends, Oh, My!_

"Watchin' Springer makes me feel better about my own life." Advised the asshole assigned to the room's other bed.

Juice rolled his eyes. He hadn't been pleased when the hospital staff had wheeled the dude in late last night. His irritation not only stemmed from knowing Vix would be hesitant to stay the night with company but the guy just radiated suspiciousness. He managed a nod, "I know, right?"

"The episodes with Southerners are the best, man. Bunch of backwoods rednecks all married to their cousins...even those NOT on the show." The roomy snickered until he noticed the glare Juice was shooting at him.

"What?"

"My ol' lady is from Alabama, it don't get much more Southern that that."

"Real-ly?" The guy answered and shrugged as he nodded at the flat screen TV on the wall. "I think I've seen this one before... the chick is a deaf stripper, whose husband left her because they were evicted from their home because she didn't make enough money stripping and he, of course, has no job. NOW he lives with his sister, who he is also having sex with. The really, really crazy part: is the girl wants her cheatin', sibling-fucking hubby back because it's not his fault. His sister brainwashed him ... into incest. They're from Alabama, come to think of luck with your girl, man. Southern people are crazy."

"Hmph, there are no more crazy people in the South than up North."

Both men snapped their attention to the door, finding Vix leaning against the doorjamb. "Hey, baby." She fixed a smile for Juice and eyed the roomy with suspicion. "In the South we're just proud of our crazy people, like to put 'em on display. No one in the South ever asks IF you have crazy people in your family, they just ask what side they're on."

Happy entered the room after her and after shutting the door stood silent sentry duty, eyes narrowed on the roomy. Roomy looked intimidated as hell, "Hey, you like Jerry Springer?"

Hap remained silent and Vix crossed the room, stopping to tug the privacy curtain across before continuing to Juice's bedside. "Grandma Ruby and The Olds are in the lounge down the end of the hall. They wanted to come straight here from the airport but I told 'em I needed a minute with you." Drawing the chair up next to the bed, Vix sat down and took in the worry that had embedded itself across Juice's face. Up close her makeup did little to conceal the garish bruises. With a sigh she reached and unwinds the scarf from her neck again and watched Jean's eyes flash.

"What the hell happened to you?" He inquired in a terse whisper.

"I had a bad day yesterday, Jean..." Vix bit her lip, only to wince because it was already split and damaged. She unleashed a controlled bean spill in a voice barely above a whisper. At the end, she could clearly see anger and confusion added to the worry written all over Juice's face. "I didn't want to _not_ tell you but I didn't want to have you all worried. You need to get better, I need you back at 100 percent and you can't be that if you up and sign yourself outta here early."

Juice rolled his eyes and leaned over, not without some effort, and whispered back through gritted teeth, "Some asshole almost chokes the life outta you... your dog gets killed... a member's old lady gets to death with a baseball bat and I'm supposed to be unaffected? I... I don't have that capacity. The only things that I give a shit about are You, The Club and my Gram..."

"Vitals check." A nurse announced with a rap on the door followed by the sound of sneakers squeaking on the tile and the wheeled cart her laptop and various medical gadgets are housed on.

"Mr. Ortiz, how are you feeling today?" The nurse chirped as she fitted him with a blood pressure cuff and stuffed a thermometer in his ear.

"'I'm a 7, 'bout the same I guess."

She typed a note. "The doctor let orders for your bandages be removed to allow for showering. I'll send in the CNA to assist..."

Vix narrowed her eyes and shifted in the chair next to the bed. Juice managed not to grin at his girl's abject disdain. "I got all the assistance I need, thanks. Besides I've got some visitors in the lounge, could you swing a wheelchair. I'm not up for distance just yet."

"There are some out by the nurses' station. I'll have one brought by."

"I'll grab one." Vix interjected.

_**XXX**_

Jax straddled his Harley in the TM lot and gritted his teeth as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket. His knee jittered violently from the adrenaline still flowing through his veins after his showdown with Clay. Afterwards, Bobby had done his best to calm his nerves, to assure him that there was no way that Cara Cara would be shut down, but the secretary had no clue that the porn business was just the tip of the iceberg of troubles with Clay. He was somewhat surprise to have the little heart to heart with Tig as well, with the SAA seemingly very concerned about Opie. He had calmed down for exactly two minutes but when he thought of the INS judge they were going to have to persuade all for some rogue Chinese weapons connections, his anger started to rise again.

His mind raced over a million thoughts but landed on the one thing he knew it was time to do and what better time to do it than before he was putting his neck out for the Club again tonight. He thumbed through his contacts and found Jaci's number. She answered on the third ring. "Hey, it's Jax. Need to talk to you about some shit, think you can take a break from work, meet me up at the Overlook?" She must have registered the anger and frustration in his voice because she didn't hesitate a second before agreeing to the spontaneous meet.

_**XXX**_

"Well, I think that went swimmingly." Ruby announced as she settled into the middle seat of the minivan. Vix cocked her head but shrugged as she typed _swimmingly_ into the dictionary app on her phone. She watched as several definitions filled the little screen, confirming she was correct and Grandma Ruby must be high, because... _very well; effortlessly; exceedingly good _were not at all how Vix would begin to describe what happened in the family lounge when Juice was given the news of Ruby's marriage to Henry Darling.

Millie saved Vix from having to do so when she commented, "Ruby, get real! If you think that went swimmingly then you're delusional. Juice seethed so hard I thought he was gonna rupture something."

Vix nodded along in agreement as Sadie added to the commentary, "Poor boy heaved himself out of that wheel chair dead set on kicking Henry's behind or in the very least slapping him something good."

Vix ventured a glance over at Hap behind the wheel. His face held a slightly amused expression. She shook her head at the memory of Hap having to control his brother and corral him back into his seat. "Juice ain't supposed to be jolstin' about… doctors' orders…he's still healin'."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Ms. Vix, but I thought you advised Ruby that you'd pass the news of our marriage on …"

"Oh! Don't you hang this on me, Henry Darling!" Vix said as she twisted around to face the Olds. "You two go and pull the coup of the millennium and I'm supposed to be your proxy at the firing line? No thank you! I had enough news to pass on to my beloved."

Ruby sighed, "Jean Carlos will come around in due time. Now, William if you will be a dear and locate an eatery. I am personally famished and Sadie needs to take her medication."

"Mmm hmm, three-thirty… I need to take my little orange, square-shaped one, keeps my ticker in good working order." The sweet, little old lady added from her seat in the very back of the van. "Need to take it with food or milk, but milk gives me awful indigestion and makes me gassy."

Vix watched Hap slowly turn his head and shoot her a _really_ look. She smiled and laughed. "There's a diner up the way… Sunrise, Sunshine or something like that, or a Friendlys." She winked at Hap, "At Friendly's they give _Happy Endings_."

His eyes narrowed but he smiled. "Perv!"

She cracked up but she swore she saw him shudder as if at some thought or memory just before he added, "I don't like ice cream no more."

"Ok, that's random…diner is up on the left at the second light."

As Vix, Hap and The Olds exited the van in the restaurant's parking lot, Hap's cell rang. She watched him fall back out of cadence, pulling the phone out of his pocket and checking the caller ID before answering. "Yeah?"

Vix continued on but would have to purger herself to swear she wasn't in part listening to Hap's side of the conversation, especially as it pertained to Juice and his not being able to do something for many reasons up to and including the new roomy, who she was pleased to find Hap being suspicious of as well. She had to physically stop herself from nodding along at his concurrence that the guy looked like a federal plant just looking for SAMCRO's resident retard to slip up and give 'em something they could use .

When he ended the call she stopped walking. "Anything I can help with?"

"Nah." He lit a cigarette and then sucked in half of it with the first inhale.

"Well if you change your mind, I'm willing to try. You can't practically live with Juice for a year and not learn the fine art of what he does."

She watched the Nomad study her intently then shrug. "Got someone we need to know better."

"The information era has been dawnin' for sometime, Hap. The feds have themselves to thank for the accessibility of records. _Freedom to Know_…God Bless Bush."

Hap chuckled. "I second that!"

Vix rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Now who's the perv? Let me help, Hap."

"INS Judge. Anthony Franklin. You do this... I'll owe you one."

"Always a good thing to be owed a favor by my favorite Nomad." Vix replied and upnodded. "We feed the seniors, drop 'em home then I gotta hit up Twisted. With Juice laid up, one of us needs to be earning. I'll find what I can on your judge."

_**XXX**_

The scenic overlook, known to locals simply as the Overlook, provided a grand vista view of the entire town and a pretty secluded meeting place depending on the time of day. Jaci parked her car near the main pavilion that also housed the restrooms and walked across the narrow road, headed straight for the picnic table where Jax sat.

"What's up with the stealthy location?"

Jax crushed out the last bit of his cigarette and blew out a stream of smoke. "Got some stealthy shit to talk about." He motioned for her to sit down. "How's Vix doing?"

Jaci shrugged. "Controlled devastation, but I guess that's the best anyone could hope for given the circumstances. We got Spawn buried, she's off to corral the Olds, see Juice. I think she's going to help Gemma and Luann's sister with funeral stuff. She'll be fine." She smirked at her brother-in-law, "You know us Parkers…take a lickin', keep on tickin'. I think the better question is how are YOU? Seems to be a lot of shit going on…"

"You got no fuckin' idea." Jax replied with a frustrated shake of his head but he knew she _did_ have a clue. She'd see a lot of the shit blow up along with everyone else at dinner the previous night she just didn't know the driving forces behind all of it. But more than that, she'd grew up around the club, same as him, knew the inner dramas and goings on that happened. "Lately, putting on this cut feels like I'm strappin' on the goddamn weight of the world."

"You look tired…pissed off." She commented as she noticed the baby smooth face her older sister had fallen in love with wasn't so smooth anymore. Fine lines had started to creep in, probably at a faster rate than an average guy in his early 30s. Hard living would do that to you though and she wondered how many little wrinkles she had earned in her year back in Charming.

"Your uncle ever look like this?"

"Sometimes…but not for very long. Seems like he always figures out a way to fix whatever is bringing him down."

Jax nodded along as he stared down at his hands resting on the concrete picnic table. The thoughts swirling in his head were all means to fixing his problems but he knew so far he hadn't come across the _right _solution, well except for one area.

She let another long moment of silence lull between them before venturing a question. "You get the feeling everyone in this damn town's lost their ever loving minds?"

"That's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about…I need a favor." He replied and watched her roll her eyes at the mention of the dreaded _favor _word. "And before you balk…it's not a club thing, it's for _me_."

Jaci stared at him with raised eyebrows. "Shoot."

"I need you to draw up some papers, legally binding shit. If something happens to me, I want you to be Abel's guardian."

"Whoa, what?" Surprise and confusion fought for supreme position in Jaci's mind and on her face.

"You heard me."

"Yeah, I heard you but I don't _understand _you. Why are you worried about something happening to you? And even if something, God forbid, did happen, aren't we skipping a few people in line here? What's going on, Jax? This is totally out of left field, I don't…"

He held up a hand to end her aggressive questioning. "Just listen…Stahl dropped by my place the other day. Just her normal endless pestering bullshit but Tara was there. Stahl started these lame ass threats about guardianship and getting child protective services involved, should Tara be taking care of Abel, etc. It's all bullshit…but I wouldn't put it past that bitch to push the issue. I just want to be protected, for Abel to be protected."

Jaci blew out a breath and rubbed her hands over her face. Through gritted teeth she hissed, "God, I hate that bitch. Seriously, who threatens shit like that?"

"I dunno…but there's nothing I would put past her, she gets desperate enough, she'll do anything."

"Ok, ok…I get the need for some papers but why me? Did Tara say no or something? She's been his acting mom pretty much since he was born."

"I didn't ask her." Jax replied quietly. "Look, you said we're skipping a few people in line and there's a reason for that. Wendy's a lost cause, yeah she's doing the sober living thing but she's checked out on Abel and we both know it'll just be a matter of time before she's got a needle in her arm again. I know she's your sister and all but I think she's gonna go out like your mom."

He watched as Jaci gave a sad nod and waved him off, nothing more needed said on that topic. "And Tara…she's great with Abel and I love her to death, J but I don't know. We're shaky at best…neither one of us can decide if we're in or out on this shit on any given day."

Jaci snorted and thought of her volatile and iffy relationship with Tig. "I know how that goes."

"I can't have her deciding six months down the line that she suddenly doesn't want to be a mom anymore. I mean it's not her kid really and this life…I don't know, might not be for her."

"Ok, well then…what about your mom? Gemma is a _fierce_ grandma, Jax. Takes doting to a whole new level. She'd take Abel in a heartbeat."

"I need a stable, level headed person in Abel's life, to put him first, give him a better life." Jax said with barely controlled force. "You and I both know I'm not gonna die of old age in my sleep, J. Chances are, if it happens anytime soon, I'm gonna die bloody. And if that happens, I want Abel away from this life…I don't want him to end up as a pawn in some club bullshit, that takes my mother out of this. And don't even bring up Vix. I know she loves Abel but she's just starting to get her life going. She doesn't need saddled with a kid out of the blue."

He was beginning to unsettle the shit out of her. Usually, Jax was calm, sure he could lose his cool every now and then but normally he was very chill. But judging by the blatant emotion on his face and in his voice, there was obviously something big brewing and he was honest to God worried. "Jax…"

"And don't act all offended like you're the last choice or something. Hell, you're really the ONLY choice." He snapped then added, "If you don't want to do it, Jaci, just say it."

She bristled at his tone. "It's not that. You say you want stable and levelheaded, right? That's what I'm giving you. This is a big deal and you're taking a weird goddamn path. I'm just making sure you've really thought about this."

Jax _had _thought the request through; the idea had sparked the day that Stahl had made her threats but came to a head today after his showdown with Clay. In that moment, after he had handed a loaded gun to his step-father and waited to see if Clay would really make good on his promise of killing him if he ever mentioned the Donna situation again, Jax realized he had some decisions to make, protections that needed to be in place. It was so hard to make Jaci see the grim writing on the wall without out-right telling her of the danger he knew he was facing.

He sighed and looked directly at Jaci. "If these papers are needed…it means this club has become something that I wouldn't want to be a part of, wouldn't want my _son_ to be a part of. We would be so far down the road, past the point of no return that no one would ever recover, understand? Tying Abel to Gemma would only ensure he drowns right along with everyone else associated."

He stared harder at her. "I trust you get what I'm saying, what I'm asking. I'm taking a huge risk and I have no real right to ask but you're the only one I know that can walk away. Vix, I love her, I do. She's finally getting her shit together but she's 100% club and 100% Juice, she's too far in to ever get out. Wendy, Tara, and my mom are out…I need you."

Jaci nodded her understanding but shook her head. "Jesus, people are gonna…"

"No they're not. No one needs to know about this. This is between you and me." Jax gave her an apologetic look. "This is worst case scenario shit, sweetheart. Draw up the papers, I'll sign em, bury em in a drawer and I apologize in advance for the shit storm you'll face if they ever need to see the light of day."

She glanced at him and watched his jaw flex in nervous anticipation of her answer. She took a moment to think about his line of reasoning and had to agree with him. She was the one with a college education, a good paying job and the same Parker blood that was running through Abel's veins. She had uprooted her life to be at Abel's side, to make sure he was safe and raised right.

She mulled over the doomsday scenario Jax was lining out. If he died in the way he was hinting, Jaci would need to uproot her life again and that would mean leaving Cali, probably not going back to Bama either. Essentially he was hinting at isolation, giving up family to SAVE family. What was the big deal about legalizing her intentions? "Ok, I'll do it and I get what you're saying… if shit goes south, I'll move him to the middle of bumblefuck Wyoming if I have to. I'll make sure he gets a normal life, Jax. I promise you that."

"Thank you…and I'm serious about the down low shit though, J. No one can know about this…I've got enough drama going on right now."

"What's one more secret, Jax? This damn town's full of 'em. At least this one's for a good cause right? I mean, I'm stabbing my own sisters in the back, risking losing like the only friend I have in this town and potentially pissing off your mother and unleashing Hell on Earth but we have to do what we have to do right?"

"Fuckin' A." Jax replied and stood up. Jaci followed suit and he walked around the table, pulling her into a quick hug. "Thank you."

She nodded and they walked across the road to their rides. "How soon do you need these papers?"

"Sooner the better."

"Ok, give me a couple of days. I'll get it done." She replied as she watched him straddle his bike and hook his helmet in place. "Take care of yourself, Jax. I might make a hell of a mom but Abel needs his daddy."

Jax gave a stern nod as he fired up his bike. He hoped to God Jaci never had to cash in those papers but then again, _expect the best, prepare for the worst_. Wasn't that some kind of famous motto? Suddenly his mind flashed back to dealing with Ima earlier in the day and he whistled to get J's attention. He up-nodded and smirked at her. "Hey, on a bright note...guess what happened today?" She shrugged, not even willing to venture a guess. "Ima and some of the Cara Cara girls got caught in a goddamn prostitution sting."

A satisfied smile spreads across Jaci's face, "I guess the smurf blue wore off?"

"Guess so."

"So sorry to hear about that, Jax." She added sarcastically. "Can't say I'm surprised though...stupid is as stupid does."

Jax rolled his eyes, "Yeah no shit." He walked his bike backwards and roared off toward town.

**XXX**

Henry Darling parked his Town Car in one of the designated spots in front of Twisted Scissors. Entering the salon, he was greeted with a relaxing spa-like atmosphere. The only jarring note was the young woman behind the reception desk. He noticed she was strikingly pretty, when she raised her head he was met with large, liquid eyes and a bright smile. Her hair however, was an odd shade of purple and twisted into strange little spikey knobs over her ears. As if that wasn't odd enough, she had felt the need to shove sticks into each knob and attached to the end of each stick were decorated beads on a spring, looking for all the world like insect antenna. Henry could do little more than stare.

"Welcome to Twisted Scissors. May I help you?" The girl greeted and asked politely.

"I'm here to see Vix Parker. Henry Darling."

"I don't see an appointment, but we do have a few openings today. Let me see if she is willing to fit you in..."

Before Henry could protest, the receptionist stood up revealing her true height, as well as a mid-drift baring shirt coupled with a purple leather mini skirt. He watched her walk across the main room, antenna bobbing away as she took the stairs. "Dear Lord." He muttered to unoccupied salon.

A few moments later the sound of footsteps descending the stairs drew his attention.

"Hello, Henry." Vix greeted. "You've met my new employee Brittney. Britt this is Henry Darling. He's married to Juice's grandma Ruby."

"Pleased to meet you." The girl replied.

"Same." Henry nodded then glanced at Vix, "Am I interrupting you?"

"Nope. Finished placing my orders and started workin' on a persuasive essay about affirmative action."

"Doesn't that sound like fun?" He said with a dry chuckle. "How many times did you happen to use the word douchbaggery?"

Vix laughed, "That IS The Greatest Word of all time, simple yet pleasingly kick-assed-ness." Vix crossed her arms under her bust. "Well, since you won't let me within a foot of you with scissors or a razor, I'm gonna guess you aren't here to be beautified. Why don't we talk in my office?"

Henry followed her up the stairs into her office. "What do you think of Britt?"

He raised his eyebrows in thought. "She's odd. Looks like something out of a rock n roll video in that mini-skirt and the bobbly doo-dads in her hair. But, do I expect you to employ normal people?" He cleared his throat, pulling a small manila envelope out from inside his windbreaker and setting it on her desk. "If I forget that when I go, if I leave it lying there. I want you to return it to me immediately. I haven't got another copy and under no circumstances do I want you to open it up and read the contents or share them wiith your friends. And I will never wonder why you, a Natural Born United States Citizen, might have a hankering to inquire about a justice for the Immigration and Naturalization Services."

Vix bit her bottom lip, eyes big as saucers. She wasn't dumb, she knew just how much this request was costing this man. "Henry... Thank You. You-you don't know what this means...how much we…"

She watched his face contort into stony eyes, hard lines and angles, tight jaw, and pursed lips. She'd never seen this side of Henry Darling. The side she had no doubt more criminals sent before his court than she could guess at, had seen. "I know exactly what this means... it means I've done a SILENT favor to my new bride... a one-time-favor! Call it a wedding gift if you will, but do realize that it won't be happening again. I married Ruby, not The Sons of Anarchy, regardless of her grandson's affiliation." Turning on his heel he exited the room, leaving the manila envelope behind.

_**XXX**_

_I tell myself that you're no good for me_

_I wish you well but desire never leaves_

_I could fight this to the end _

_But maybe I don't wanna win_

_~Familiar Taste of Poison, Halestorm_

Jaci parked down the street from Tig's place and turned off her engine. She got out of her car and casually walked up the sidewalk to his house. Glancing around, she confirmed his bike wasn't parked in its usual place in front of the old detached garage. She had no clue how long she'd be waiting for him to make it home. He never kept any type of regular schedule; he might come straight home from work or hang at the clubhouse until midnight. But either way, she had hid her car to prevent him from spotting her and driving right past his house in an attempt to avoid her. It was childish of them both but that was the state of the union with them right now.

She knew Tig never used his front door so she headed straight for the backyard. Lifting the U shaped lever on the chain link fence, she pushed through the gate and closed it quietly behind her. The act felt like a covert mission but she figured it was best to ambush him at his house instead of calling him or going by Teller Morrow. Tig with an audience was a dangerous thing as she had seen recently; she didn't need a crowd to rile him up again. Even alone she might only have a 0.0001% chance of getting him to listen to her but it was better than a flat zero chance.

Tig's backyard was never going to win any awards or be featured in Home and Garden magazine, it was completely barren. There were no trees, no flowers, no shrubs, just dead winter grass. But the yard didn't look much better in the Spring or Summer, his grass was less than enthusiastic even in warmer weather but who could blame it; Tig's forte was not tender loving care…with anything. The only structure in the postage stamp style yard was a small back porch, well it was technically a stoop but being from the South, Jaci called every door entrance a porch.

There were three wide concrete steps leading up to a small concrete platform with an old rusted awning covering the space. Jaci smiled slightly as she realized his stoop was a 2 Butt, 2 Beer space…just enough concrete slab to allow for two people to sit next to each other with a beer on the side of them. It was a stark contrast to her own backyard which was fairly lush with a beautiful back deck. Her yard also now had a newly buried dead dog in it but she pushed that morbid thought away.

She took a seat on the hard concrete slab with her feet planted on the top step, elbows resting atop her knees. It was probably a good thing he wasn't home yet, her little custody chat with Jax had sent her mind for a loop and she needed a bit more time to get her thoughts straight. She realized it was a little twisted that she had just promised Jax that she'd drop everything and everyone in Charming and leave if needed and now she sat waiting to talk to Tig. But really, she was just tying up loose ends, the same as Jax.

She also realized some might see her coming to Tig's house as desperate and she supposed it was. Most women would have never talked to him after his behavior over the last few days but then again, _most _women would have never bothered with Tig Trager in the first place. They would have used him for what he appeared to be on the surface, a quick thrilling fuck, a little walk on the wild side and then they would have moved on like a sane person. Hell, she had never _planned _on bothering with him but shit happened. However, in her defense, she wasn't here to grovel for forgiveness or to try to get them back together. She just had a few important things to say and then she was going to leave. She didn't have any real clear expectations of how the meeting would go, but she had made peace with either of the two possible outcomes.

_**XXX**_

At Teller Morrow, Tig was walking to bike, on his way home to change clothes before heading out to do a quick check of Lin's guns and then wait for word on the judge shakedown. He had spent more time than he could afford after Jax had left, just waiting and watching Clay…making sure his best friend didn't do anything stupid. That standoff between Prez and VP had been way too intense.

He hoped Happy pulled off a miracle and got them the judge specifics soon. The Nomad had said he was taking care of it but Tig knew info was a little trickier to come by with their info officer laid up in the hospital with shiv holes. No sooner had he gotten the thought of Juice out of his head did he see Vix roll into the lot in her Jeep. He rolled his eyes, wondering what in the hell she wanted. He was in no mood to be irritated, especially after having to round-a-bout admit to the Jax that the Donna shit had his and Op's heads twisted. Admitting shit always made him cranky.

"What do you want, Parker?" He asked with annoyance as she cleared her Jeep.

"Is Hap around?"

"Nope, just missed him; went to gas up his bike."

Vix pursed her lips in thought as she tapped a manila envelope against one of her hands. She would have felt better handing the info off to Hap since he had been the one to ask for it but she also figured time was probably of the essence. She held out the package to Tig. "Here, I think you guys are needing this."

Tig eyed her cautiously and couldn't help but think back to the last time a Parker had given him a package like that…it had been Jaci with devastating "proof" of Op's Fed involvement. All that had turned out to be a complete clusterfuck but he snatched the envelope from her without a word and opened it anyway. As he read the contents, he frowned. "Juice give this to you?"

She shook her head. "No but it doesn't matter, consider me his info stand-in. What _does _matter is that it's all _very_ credible and it's needed so there you go."

"Ok…fine." He retorted and started to walk past her back to the clubhouse but she cleared her throat. He pulled up short and gave her an irritated look. She didn't say anything, just stared at him for a long moment as if she was contemplating something again. He'd had never seen Vix so thoughtful, twice in the space of three minutes, it was a goddamn record. Finally he ended the silent stare down. "WHAT? Just say it already."

"J didn't sleep with Rosen. You're being stupid." Vix blurted. She had told herself that she'd keep her mouth shut but just couldn't keep her promise after laying eyes on her sister's ex. He was giving off that irritated _I don't give a fuck_ vibe that even she knew was bullshit half the time. Maybe that was why Jaci couldn't just give up on the douchebag, because yeah he kept a wall up most of the time but when you could get him to drop it for just a second; there was something of substance behind it.

"Fuck a duck…" He muttered, not wanting to get into THAT talk with Vix. He didn't have time and even if he did, it was a convo he'd just as soon skip.

"How many times you think she's gonna turn the other cheek with you?" Vix asked with raised eyebrows then her expression changed to ever so worried and her voice dropped. "She's hanging in but she's getting tired, Tig...of everything in this town."

Tig just rolled his eyes but the personal talk softened his vibe ever so slightly. He walked off but turned around after a few steps and stared back at the youngest Parker sister. She was an irritating little shit most of the time but you had to respect her moxy. "Hey...you ok?" He waved a finger around his neck to indicate her bruised up state.

She nodded and he nodded back as if to say _good_. She smiled, "I'm still in the game, so I'll take it, ya know? Vix Parker lives on to fight another day."

Tig smirked and opened the door to the clubhouse. He found Clay still sitting at the bar and walked over, pulling the judge info from the envelope and waving it into Clay's line of vision.

The SAMCRO President snatched the papers and read them quickly. "Hap came through? He go to Juice?"

"Not exactly... Vix got us the intel."

Clay snorted and tried to contain his annoyance. He'd really goddamn glad when all his members were healed and back doing their jobs. Now they had Old Ladies involved in club business, what was the goddamn world coming to? "Well…make sure she didn't fuck up the address, her being dyslexic and all."

For some reason the snide comment rubbed Tig the wrong way, it was a low blow and shitty. Hell he was cranky too, just the same as Clay but spitting on someone trying to help you was just one more sign that his Prez was impossible to please as of late. He rolled his eyes as he walked away without saying a word.

Clay caught the eye roll, checked his growing frustration with his SAA and raised his eyebrows. "What? Are we back on the Parker bandwagon today?"

Tig just shook his head in frustration. He hated when Clay got snippy with him. He waved him off and through gritted teeth replied, "I'll double check it."

"Good..._thank you._" Clay smirked and replied with insincerity and sarcasm fighting it out for the lead in his voice.

_**XXX**_

An hour had passed when Jaci heard the low roar of Tig's bike coming up the street, approaching from the opposite direction of where her car was parked, just like she had planned. The rumble continued as he steered his bike up the short driveway, parked it and killed the engine. Boots crunched on the narrow gravel path to the backyard and her heart started pounding in anticipation. Suddenly she didn't know if she should stand or stay seated, either way he was still going to shocked to see her so she just stayed put. He pushed through the gate and kicked it closed behind him, still not looking in her direction. She took a deep breath, _Here goes nothing._

His eyes finally scanned to his back door…and landed on her. He pulled up short, actually took a step backward in surprise then stared at her, a frown sliding over his brow. "The fuck you doing here?"

"Um…" She finally stood up and cursed herself to get a grip and just stick to the script she had planned. She held out her hands, fingers splayed in a calming gesture. "I'm not here to fight. I just wanna say a few things and then you say whatever and I'll go."

Tig didn't react so she raised her eyebrows finally at him and he gave a slight shrug. She took it as a _go-ahead_ gesture and started her speech. "We buried my sister's dog in my backyard today and it hit me that I'm damn lucky I wasn't burying Vix, that it was just a tiny little twist of fate that kept her from being in Luann's shoes. There's so much shit going down around here, people can't even see straight. It's like everybody's just detached. Bonds are breaking and…"

She glanced down at her feet to break the hard stare Tig was giving her. After a second she glanced back up and crossed her arms over her chest. "Last night was brutal…we all made goddamn fools out of ourselves. I mean, I've _never _seen a club fight like last night. And I feel like an idiot for my part in all of it. I just wanted to come by here and try to squash whatever riff is between us…because it doesn't mean anything in the big scheme of things, Tig. People are getting hurt, killed even…our thing is just so…._small_."

"So it's squashed." Tig replied without an ounce of sincerity. "You can leave now."

Jaci frowned at his smartass answer but at least he was listening and standing still. She swallowed hard, now came the part she hated…the admitting fault part. "Your reaction…that was over the top, psycho crazy bonkers bullshit but I get it. Lin told you all lies but you got punked out in front of your brothers and that's completely unacceptable, I know that. I know your status, hell I guess your life, depends on appearances. And at that moment, I guess you appeared weak and I'm sorry. None of that would have happened if I hadn't pulled my little stunt with Rosen in the first place, so even though my car's a mess and you're bull headedness pushed me too far, I guess I deserved it in a roundabout, very fucked up way."

"Deserved it?" He retorted. "I should have beat the shit out of YOU."

She eyed him and replied coolly without missing a beat but with totally honesty. "Tig, you ever really lay a hand on me...neither one of us will like where that leads."

It was a solemn statement and a threat all wrapped up into one, but he could hear the absolute sincerity in her voice. Any other woman would have said it as a challenge, a dare and he would have smacked them on principle. But he knew coming from her that she wasn't trying to push him or give him some '_oh you better not or I'll…_' crazy warning, It was a sad statement of fact...if he ever hit her, it would be the end of them, no coming back and he was sure the next time BB or Motor saw him, he'd get the beating of a lifetime too. She had talked about being knocked around a few times by her father and how she had no plans to ever take that shit from anyone again.

They stared at each other for a long moment before she finally spoke again, "Can I finish talking?"

Tig rolled his eyes and waved his hand, sarcastically signaling _oh but of course._

"You messed up, I messed up…we pushed each other too far. You take people for granted and this is what happens. But I try…I try so hard to be perfect, Tig. You know that. I try to be everything for everybody and keep my cool and do the right thing and fix shit when it's broken but this time I just fucked up." She shook her head. "And even though I'm not completely wrong here…I still hate…I hated seeing that look on your face. Like you realized I'm not what you thought I was, you know? I know it's hard for you to trust…" She stopped talking because she could feel the lump rising in her throat.

He knew exactly what she meant…it was like she was pulling words straight out of his goddamn head. He had seen that look from people before…from his ex-wife, his kids, hell Clay had given it to him twice yesterday. Those looks burned deep but he had no one to blame but himself for the current clusterfuck with Jaci. The second he had bought those flowers for her a year ago, he had sealed his fate; had broken damn near the number one rule in the Man Handbook…._never put the pussy on a pedestal_. Back then, he hadn't even fucked her yet and he was so goddamn lost in her it wasn't funny.

In his mind she had been an anomaly, a rare combination of everything he wanted in a woman and shit he never even knew he'd care about. She was beautiful, smart, sassy, had a wicked sense of humor, tough, understood club life…the list went on and on. Most importantly he had thought she was loyal, she knew how shit in The Life went, he had thought he could trust her. She was his Miss Straight and Narrow, would never do him wrong. She was _perfect_. So he had taken a risk, a risk he hadn't taken in so very very long...he had let her in and for a long while she had proven him right time and time again. But then she had pulled this Rosen stunt and the façade of perfection had been shattered in an instant, all his unrealistic expectations of her had fallen to the floor and he was left feeling like a sucker. That reality check had shocked the shit out of him and his only response had been pure rage.

Jaci shook off her heavy thoughts and decided to shoot straight to the point, enough with the explanations and apologetic bullshit. He had probably tuned her out three words into her speech anyway. She ran her hands through her long brown hair. "Look, I'll be perfectly honest here…part me wants to tell you to fuck off, to never talk to you again. If I had a brain in my goddamn head, that's what I would do. I mean, I can't even remember the last time we were _happy_ together, how fucked up is that? But the thought of actually doing that, of letting you go…I just… can't. And that doesn't make any logical goddamn sense…nothing about us makes any sense."

"No shit." Tig muttered.

"I'm stumped. For once in my life, I don't have all the answers. I'm completely in over my head and I don't know what to do about it. And I don't think it's gonna get any better. I mean, this town's a goddamn pressure cooker and I honest to God think it brings out the worst in us." She held up her hands in finality. "So I guess that's the long and short of it…I'm human…I'm going to make mistakes. But like 99% of the time, Tig….I'm going to do right by you and that's better odds that anyone has _ever_ given you. Hell, it looks like it's better odds than your own club will give you right now and its damn sure better odds than you're giving me."

"So?"

"So….you should think about it. All these goddamn fractures that are popping up around you…do you really want me to be one of them?"

Her question hung in the air for a silent couple of minutes. Tig touched the space between his eyebrows with two fingers like he had a headache and then looked at her, thinking about what all would need to happen to make bringing her back into the fold possible. For one thing, he couldn't come off looking like everything was goddamn instantly fine and he was whipped. A few very long moments ticked by before he finally spoke out of the blue. "Ok…first thing…you don't work in Oakland anymore. Your commuting days are done."

Jaci couldn't help but shake her head in disbelief at his selfish, macho edict. He didn't want her anywhere near Rosen and this demand was one last little way to throw his weight around. "Ok, A) that's a bullshit demand and B) that's part of my _job_, Tig. I could get fired for refusing."

He pursed his lips, "Not my problem...maybe you need a new job."

"Maybe you need to TRUST ME." Jaci spat back. "God knows the slack I give you."

"Not just YOU I don't trust…goddamn town is full of whack jobs…Chinese, Mayans, Niners. O-Town is no longer in your flight plan." He watched her frown and continued with his list of demands. "Another thing, I got a lot of shit going on, I can't have you shoved up my ass right now."

"When have I ever been shoved up your ass, Tig?"

He shrugged, "Just sayin' we need to cool it for a while." Keeping her at arm's length yet again was good for two reasons, one he was still pissed at her and two, it would keep Clay from thinking his judgment was impaired more than he already did.

"So this is how it's going to be?" She asked with a smirk and felt her anger rising. She had extended an olive branch and he was standing around hem-hawing on whether or not he wanted to take it, angling for a better deal or something. She gave him a stare and felt her mood of compromise vanish. "This isn't a goddamn negation. I'm not paying for this stupid misunderstanding until you think I've had enough. Either let it go or let me go, I'm trying to fix this shit here, Tig."

"When you gonna get it through your thick head you can't fix everything and everybody?"

His response stunned her but she managed to snort a laugh, realizing just how stupid she had been for trying to talk to him. With Tig, it was always going to be give, give, give…and he was never going to give her an inch back in return. "You know what, you're right. I CAN'T fix you. You're a goddamn lost cause."

"Are you done?"

She shrugged, looked down at her feet then back up at him. "Yeah…I guess I am."

"Good, get the fuck off my porch." He said flippantly and walked right past her to the back door, let himself in and slammed it behind him without another word.

Jaci stood on the stoop completely stunned. _Did that really just happen? Did I really just pour my heart out to him? Did he really just tell me to fuck off?Motherfucker._

Tig's back was leaned up against the door he had just slammed. It was probably a horrible decision but his macho pride had been flying on autopilot for a few days now and had once again taken control…but it was cracking. All of her words started to really hit him, a delayed reaction of understanding and the slightest bit of forgiveness started to bloom inside him.

Hell, even her apology had been perfect...she knew just how to walk that line between taking blame but pointing the finger too. She knew better than to grovel, knew he didn't respond to shit like that, he needed to be stood up to...but in just the right way. Damn girl should have been a salesman, making you want shit you know you didn't need. She had went the extra mile to reach out to him tonight but his defenses were going to make her walk a few more inches.

Maybe his little demands had been a bit much, he probably should have saved them until after the makeup sex went down but live and learn. Surely, he'd have his hands on her in a few minutes. He rolled to his right and came to stand with his forehead resting against the door and knew he'd cave if she pushed, kicked or knocked on the door. _One more push, just one more word…I'll let you back in._

She stared at the door and shook her head. _Walk away, J. Give it up. _Two full minutes ticked by, the Mexican standoff in full swing. Well maybe it had nothing to do with Mexicans but she stood waiting in his yard and he stood waiting inside his house. She blew out a deep breath and walked toward the back gate, letting herself out. As she walked down his driveway, she muttered quietly, "Good luck with the rest of your life, dickhead…you're gonna fucking need it."

Five minutes later, Tig opened his back door and stared out onto an empty yard. _She left_. He shook his head, not liking the feeling of permanence her leaving left behind. But he couldn't dwell on that shit right now…Club business called and he had to move his ass, he was already running late. He needed to grab his shit and head off to checking out Lin's guns then get to the judge's house; he had work to do.

_**XXX**_

Two hours later…

"I can't do it… shit, goddamnit…I can't do it." Tig breathed as Jax told him it was _his turn_ to take a run at the stonewalling judge. Luckily after a long moment, Jax could see the state his SAA was in, squeezed his shoulder and told him to relax.

Relax was something Tig was trying desperately to do but wasn't having much luck. _We both know my shit's upside down. _He thought about the comment he had made to Jax earlier in the day…now it looked like his personal assessment was a huge understatement. He had wanted to protect Opie tonight, to keep him from running headfirst down the path of return but fat lot of good he had done…epic fail. Now it was all he could do to keep himself from falling out from a full-fledged panic attacked. He swallowed hard and sucked in ragged breaths with his eyes squeezed shut as he tried to get a grip on what had just happened.

The judge shakedown had been FUBAR'd from the beginning. Tig had let Op take the lead, thinking that he'd just step in if things went sideways. He had even been optimistic…but no one had planned on the judge being such a heartless piece of shit. Once the judge's kid had arrived home, shit had deteriorated fucking fast. Normally, if you were strong arming someone, you threatened a family member even in the least little bit, Joe Public would cave in a hurry but the judge had seemed un-phased by any aggression toward his own son. He sat smug and seemingly unaffected as Op held a gun to the kid's head. _God, who could blame the kid for being a worthless druggie piece of shit when you had a Hitler wannabe for a father?_

Tig had watched from the side as Opie ramped up his voice and the threat level, thinking surely any second now the judge would bend but the fucker held steady. Opie had been doing fine, applying more pressure saying things like he was going to beat the kid, break off his fingers then kill him. Tig caught himself nodding along as the kid started to panic at the harsh words. _Any second now…_but then the judge rolled his eyes, disbelievingly. In that one second, shit crossed over from steady and on point to complete chaos. He watched as Opie's hand made an ever so slight movement and suddenly fired a shot into the kid's foot, shooting one of his toes.

The kid yelled at the top of his lungs and Tig had to lunge at him, clamping his hands over the kid's mouth to muffle the pain and terror filled screams. _Holy shit! Goddamn, I would have beat the kid first. You work your way UP to bullets, you don't start with them! _Tig thought as he dropped to his knees, hand still over the kid's mouth and started trying to shush the bleeding boy. "Shut up, shut up. Shhhhh!"

He heard Jax trying to tell Op to cool it, that they couldn't go pluggin' holes in the kid but the next thing he knew, Op was grabbing the kid by the shoulder and dragging him, chair and all in front of the judge. That's when all the screaming started and Tig felt like a knife had been jabbed in his skull, things got surreal as the tension in the room cranked up to eleven. Op flipped the kid onto the ground and pointed the gun in his face. The kid was begging for his life and panicked screams came out between breaths.

Looking to the judge, Op had screamed, "Is this what you want? This is how you protect your family?" The judge squeezed his eyes shut, still stoically refuses to toss the case and save his child. Opie's rage began to boil over, "Open your eyes! You see what you've done, look what you've done to your family!"

Tig had been sure that Opie was no longer talking to just to the judge. The poor guy was screaming at himself and at Tig as well. _Donna_. _It all came down to Donna. _He wanted to make Op stop, to push him aside and stop the whole crazy situation but his body felt severely detached from his brain. All he could hear were Opie's growled threats and he knew he was 100% responsible for the rage filled monster standing in front of him. He had taken Donna away, firing those fateful shots had killed her and something inside Opie as well. There was no saving him, he was already gone…already a shell of the man he had once been.

He watched as Opie tried to get hisgun in the kid's mouth. The pressure in the room reached a fever pitch with everyone breathing hard. Hearts were threatening to explode in all their chests and still Tig's feet stayed rooted in place. Finally Op plugged three holes into the floor instead of the kid's head. A second later, everyone realized the ruse and relief flooded over all of them.

That was when Jax had pulled Opie away, talking softly and assuredly to him, concerned that his best friend is in a daze, barely holding back tears. Tig had ended up slumping down into a kitchen chair with graphic visions of busted, bloody back glass of a pickup truck, Donna's dead body laid forward against the steering wheel._Goddamn fuckin' conscience. _It was rearing its ugly head at the worst goddamn moments these days.

_Open your eyes! You see what you've done, look what you've done to your family! _Op's words rang in his ears again and Tig felt the full force of his brother's pain and devastation. He flashed on Jaci talking just an hour ago about fractures and riffs and things falling apart around them. She had no idea how right she was, just how fucked up everything had become, how fucked he was. She had reached out to him, offered to be there for him and in the current moment, he wanted nothing in the world more than to have her sitting on her knees in front of him, telling him how the hell to get out of this mess they were neck deep in. He wanted her to fix it, to fix him, to fix Opie, to fix everything but he knew better. Nothing would ever been ok, Op would never be whole, and Tig...he knew she was right, he was absolutely a lost cause.

_**XXX**_

Early the next morning, Bobby and Tig walked across the lot at TM towards Clay. It had a been a very long tense night with the judge finally seeing the light of reason after they found valid leverage with a stack of old love letters from his dead wife. Pretty fucking sad that he would crack over some memories but not for his own son.

Their President held out his arms, "Well?"

"It was rough but it's done. We stayed till he made the call this morning, case closed." Bobby reported. Clay looked over his secretary's shoulder as Jax and Opie made their way to their bikes and asked where they were going. Bobby snorted and thought about all the drama the four of them had been through, all the near mental breakdowns he had witnessed. "Home, it's been a goddamn long night."

Tig was thankful Bobby didn't share any details of the night. God knew he wanted to forget it had ever happened and he quickly changed the subject. "Yeah, man…it's all good. And I checked out Lin's guns too, primo stuff."

Clay gave a nod and kept his eyes on Jax and Op has they left the lot.

_**XXX**_

At the hospital, Vix sat in the chair next to Juice's bed. "Heard a song on the way here, parts of it reminded me of you."

Juice smiled, "Really? What were they?"

She smiled in returned and began humming, "Here in town, you can tell he's been down for a while... but my god, it's so beautiful when that boy smiles. Want to hold him, maybe I'll just sing about it..." She looked up to sees him smile again and pat the mattress next to him.

"Don't just sing about it, Vix."

She moved over and climbed in the hospital bed next to him, settling by his side. "It's a real good song. Says there's a light at both ends of this tunnel and all these mistakes you make you'll just make them again."

"What're you tryin' to say?"

Vix turned and stared at him. "I'm scared, Jean…for ALL of us. I don't know how many more hits we can take... you, me, the whole club. I'm not going anywhere, good or bad, I'm here. I just hope there IS a HERE when the smoke all settles."

"I know, babe...me too. And I'm sorry you got hurt. More than sorry, I'm pissed off."

Reaching up, she touched the side of his face. "I love it more when you smile... makes my world when you do." It took a few minutes, a couple of nose scrunches and half-a dozen throat clearings but finally he managed one. "There ya go." She grinned. "What happened to your roomy, anyway?"

Juice shrugged, "Not sure... might have mentioned my non-stop chattering to the nurses."

_**XXX**_

Back in Charming, Jaci stood in line at the donut shop, ready to splurge on the sweetest, most caffeine filled coffee concoction she could buy. Today was going to be rough, she needed fuel. Today was the first day of the rest of her life without Tig. No more shades of gray, their little chat the previous night had cut the cord in her mind. They were DONE. Oddly that fact didn't hurt as bad as she thought it might. She looked around the donut shop at all the other people rushing about with their normal morning concerns and she half smiled. The world was still turning and yes, there was a lot of bad shit going on in Charming right now but she thought she'd honestly be ok. Her turn at the counter came a minute later. She smiled and gave the guy her order, "I'll take a large Milky Way Mocha with an extra shot of espresso and whipped cream."

_**XXX**_

Just as Jax had reached home and started to push the nightmare of the previous evening out of his head, his cell had rung. Ten minutes later he was standing at the fringes of the burnt out ruins of Cara Cara. "Just couldn't let me have it, could he?" He asked of Bobby and Happy as they surveyed the utter destruction. He was 100% certain Clay had had the place torched overnight, fearing the upcoming vote on keeping the porn business alive.

"You talk to Quinn." Jax instructed as he slapped Happy on the shoulder. "I want a transfer. I'm going Nomad."

TBC…


	27. Chapter 24 Rocked

**Walk Away from the Son  
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SoA  
Chapter 24- Rocked**

**By BG and Reaper**

NOTE: Welcome to _**Glee: **__**Charming **__**Edition**_. LOL! Not really, but be warned we were very musical with this chapter. And sorry in advance for any weird grammer errors. This chapter did not convert well to this site and we tried to clean it up manually but might have missed something!

_**XXX**_

_And now, the end is near_

_And so I face the final curtain_

Cutting the water off, Clay yanked back the shower curtain in the master bath of his home. Stepping out, feet landing on the fluffy bath rug, he wrapped the towel around his hips, humming along as _Ol'__Blue__Eyes_ serenaded from the _Bose_ radio on the counter.

_My friend, I'll say it clear_

_I'll state my case, of which I'm certain_

Clutching a hand towel, he wiped a clear circle in the mirror above the sink. Adding his baritone in private duet with that of the _rat__packer_, the song lyrics struck sharp chords with his life – personal and club.

"_Regrets, I've had a few_

_But then again, too few to mention_

_I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption"_

"_I planned each charted course_

_Each careful step along the byway_

_And more, much more than this…I did it my way"_

"_Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew_

_When I bit off more than I could chew"_

Filling his palm with a quarter-sized dollop of shaving cream and lathering his jaw, he let his voice fill with intense emotion.

"_But through it all, when there was doubt_

_I ate it up and spit it out_

_I faced it all and I stood tall…and did it my way"_

XX

Crossing the master suite, Gemma carried her ol' man's cell phone. Approaching the bathroom door, she cocked her head and smirked at Clay's off-key singing.

"_I've loved, I've laughed and cried_

_I've had my fill, my share of losing_

_And now, as tears subside I find it all so amusing"_

She pressed her palm to the door and pushed it further ajar then shoved her shoulder against the door frame and stood still.

"_To think I did all that_

_And may I say, not in a shy way_

_Oh no, oh no not me…I did it my way"_

"Sounds like Star Search in here." Gemma greeted with a small laugh and locked eyes with Clay's reflection. "Phone call, Quinn from the Nomad charter." She held the mobile phone in his direction, her brow rising in question. "This got to do with his guy bustin' his ankle while executing that prostitution dragnet on behalf of Charming PD?"

Stabbing the power button on the radio, Clay reached for the phone and lied while smiling at his wife. "Maybe." He un-muted the phone and moved past Gemma into the bedroom, "Quinn. Hey, Brother."

_**XXX**_

Jax yawned. All night long he'd lain awake... mind racing with thoughts about today. Hap had returned last night, letter from the Nomad charter in hand. Clay no doubt received a call already from Quinn verbally confirming his crew's unanimous vote to accept the transfer. Nothing about the situation between he and the SAMCRO Prez would lend itself to a peaceful resolution. On the bedside table the alarm, set to radio function, blared to life with a fitting song...instead of slapping the off button, Jax found himself nodding along to Fred Durst and the boys.

_Special..._

_You think your special, you do. _

_I can see it in your eyes._

_I can see it when you laugh at me, look down on me and you walk around on me..._

_Just one more fight about your leadership and I will straight up leave your shit _

_Cause I've had enough of this…and now I'm pissed_

Sneering at the ceiling fan, Jax accompanied the Limp Bizkit boys …

"_YEAH!_

_This __time __I__'m__a __let __it __all __come __out, __This time I'm a stand up and shout_

_I'm a do things my way, it's my way, my way or the highway _

_This time I'm a let it all come out this time _

_I'm a stand up and shout, I'm a do things my way, _

_It's __my __way, __my__way __or __the __highway_ "

Hearing laughter from across the room, Jax sat up, reached over and turned off the music. He glanced towards the sound to find Tara standing in the doorway, holding Abel. "Looks like Daddy's in rock star mode this morning." She said smiling. "I've got to get going, have that early surgery consult and then rounds. I fed him and laid out his clothes. You should be good until Neeta can get here."

Jax gave a weak grin as Tara laid Abel in his arms. "Yep, we mere males will find a way to survive."

_**XXX**_

"Text message muthafucka." Advised Mr. T's voice.

"That never gets old." Vix grinned as she picked up her cell phone.

Text Message from HAP: 'At CH If Juice OK No Prob'

A smile blossomed on her lips as her fingers moved across the key pad typing in response...

_Juice is cool. Be there soon. Thanx! V_

Pressing Send, she shoved her phone into her jeans pocket, grabbed her messenger style bag and headed for the door. Outside Parker Place, her Jeep turned over twice before the engine decided to cooperate. "Mothershitfuck!" Vix cursed.

From the rear of the vehicle and audible clicking noise could be heard. Groaning, she reached over and cranked the volume on the radio and tore out of the drive headed for the SAMCRO club house as Pam Tilis sang a song that painted a pretty good picture of Vix's life

_If you're comin' with me, you need nerves of steel... _

_'cause I take corners on two wheels..._

_It's a never ending circus ride, faint-of-heart need not apply _

_Mi Vida Loca... over and over... _

_Destiny turns on a dime... _

_I go where the wind blow, you can't tame a wild rose... _

_Welcome To My Crazy Life..._

_**XXX**_

Happy deleted the text message on his phone then tossed it on the dresser top in the dorm room he was occupying. Looking over at the bed with a scowl, he whistled loud enough to wake up the slumbering crow-eater. He watched her raise her blonde head and glance in his direction, glassy-eyed. His normal, gravel-laden voice was even deeper and harsher first thing in the morning, "Get lost sweetheart." He muttered nodding towards the door, just in case the blonde wasn't from a bottle and she needed a visual hint. Turning towards the en suite bathroom, Hap hit the shower, vision of the prior night's debauchery pole-dancing in his head to his new favorite Hinder song,

_If you wanna run away, I can give you a ride..._

_I'm a one-way ticket to the darker side._

_Come with me, baby, let's lose some sleep..._

_But don't mistake me for a dream._

_I make the good girls bad and bad girls worse..._

_nice guys are last, 'cause I'm always first._

_I'm a freak show sucker, for how it feels..._

_turn the girl-next-door into hell-on-heels. _

_I'm & blue, tattoo'd and just don't care..._

_I'm your All-American Nightmare._

_**XXX**_

Jaci watched the young boy seated across from her as he ripped open the top of his milk carton. She had called Lowell late the night before and asked to take Moby to school. Admittedly, she had ignored the kid for a while and felt bad about it but figured now was as good as any time to check in with the kid.

"So how are things? How's your Dad doing? How's school?"

"Good…Dad's ok. He doesn't mess up very much." Moby replied quietly and took a bite of his chocolate cake donut. "School's ok. I haven't missed a day in a long time. My teacher says next year…if I don't miss any days at all, I can win a pizza party."

"A pizza party? Wow, that's awesome." Jaci replied and watched Moby nod along but she could tell he was disappointed. Next year was forever away for a kid his age. He had had a tough year and deserved a little pick me up. An idea sprung to life in her head. She tapped the table to get his attention. "Hey, I tell ya what…you make it the rest of THIS school year and I'LL throw you a pizza party."

Moby's eyes went wide. "Really?"

Jaci nodded. "Yep...your teachers don't know but you've been through a lot this year, bud. The days you missed, you had extenuating circumstances."

"Extended circumphrases?" The kid butchered trying to repeat her explanation and frowned as he worked the milk carton top further apart to allow for complete dunking of his donut. He crammed his fist down into the milk and cocked his head at her.

"It means...there was other things going on that weren't your fault. You would have been at school but you had...um, _stuff_."

"Stuff...yeah." Moby nodded along then cocked his head again. "Why don't you just say STUFF then?"

Jaci smiled, thinking Moby's chiding sounded exactly like something Tig would say. _Stop being a show off and just say STUFF_. She shrugged. "I don't know...extenuating circumstances is

just more fun, sounds fancier."

"I'm gonna use then." Moby mused while wiping off his hands with his napkin.

"Ok, you do that." She replied. He then asked how many days of school he had left and she promised to snag him a calendar from work so he could mark off every day from here until the end of May. Just like that she had given the kid a goal, something good to shoot for. He gave her a big grin and she felt her heart melt just a bit. _Such a sucker for a smile._ She mused.

The pair quickly finished their breakfast and headed towards the exit of the donut shop. Just as Jaci started to push open the door, it open for her and she found herself staring into the smiling face of Chief Unser.

"Well, mornin' Miss Parker."

"Mornin', Chief." Jaci replied and noticed the old man staring at her like he might have more to say so she let Moby walk a few feet away from them.

Unser made sure the kid was out of earshot before continuing. "Hey…I um, I heard about what happened to Vix's pup. Horrible thing. Tell her I'm sorry next time you see her, would ya?"

Jaci nodded. "Sure thing."

"Now I don't breed them pups anymore but if she wants another one…on down the line, tell her to let me know. I'll get her one somehow." He smiled and nodded toward Moby who was looking over his squad car with interest. "You babysitting?"

"Just helping out. I take him to school every now and then. You'd be amazed at what a donut can do for a kid."

Unser smiled again. "I bet. That's good though…lots of kids around here need a good influence." He reached for the bakery door and pulled it open. "Well, I'll let you two get on with it. Have a good day, Miss Parker."

_**XXX**_

"Mornin', Tigger." Vix announced to the SAMCRO SAA as she entered the club house. The clattering sound of pool balls mixed with the strains of Gordon Lightfoot's 70s classic _Sundown,_in what she could only assume was the radio Dj's attempt at humor- seeing as it just barely sun-UP.

With his elbows resting heavily on the bar top, Tig befit her a scowl. "You're a little more than I can handle before 10 A.M., Parker."

Vix stopped mid-stride and smiled, "Awe! See that... once upon a time you couldn't deal with the likes of me, 'fore Noon. I'm growin' on ya."

Across the room she heard a familiar chuckle, turned and bestowed her brightest smile on the club's Secretary/Treasurer, "Bobby E.! Dude, I need some serious help."

From where he was kicked back on one of the sofas, Opie muttered what they were all likely thinking, "Tell us something that isn't completely apparent at first glance."

A chorus of chuckles sprang forth from the handful of Sons gathered. Snickering, Bobby grinned and removing his spectacles inquired with a chuckle, "What's up, Twisted Sister?"

"I've got too much money."

"Well shit, that's a problem I'd like to have." Opie grumbled.

Frustrated, she set her bag on the table in front of Bobby and began tugging out ledger books and then her lap top, "I don't technically have all this money... at least not according to my bank. But I can't get my numbers to reflect the same thing as the bank."

"Jesus Christ." Tig voiced, simultaneously amused and irritated. "Really? Your dyslexic ass is doin' your own book keeping? Don't you got an accountant in your family?"

"Yep... and the last thing I need is for my sister to know 'bout this. I ain't got it in me to sit thru another Jaci Parker lesson on amortization and the theory of disappearing thing-a-majiggies."

"Sounds like the theory San Joaquin Savings n' Loan uses". Opie deadpanned from the sofa.

Tig just rolled his eyes and took a long pull from the mug in front of him. Hearing _her_name had stung just a bit and he relished the slow burn of the hot liquid sliding down his throat. It couldn't really be called coffee due to the out of whack ratio of whiskey he had just added.

Failing miserably to hold in his amused laugh, Bobby's shoulders vibrated and his belly shook, "Just leave your shit here and I'll take a look-see. May not be right away..."

"Thanks, B. " Vix nodded, "Appreciate it."

From the hall leading to the dorms, Hap emerged and nodded at his bros, coming to a stop in front of her, "You sure your ol' man's good?"

"I'm a big girl Hap. 'Sides Juice gets it... knows I need it." Vix answered matter of factly.

Hap nodded his head towards the hall, "Third door, lose the pants. I'll be back in a few...

Vix smiled and headed across the room as directed.

Everyone watched Hap fill a cup with coffee and without a word retraced his steps back down the hall.

XX

In the main room of the club house, while the guys shot questioning glances at each other and towards the hallway to the dorms, _Gordon_ filled the awkward silence left in the wake of Vix and Hap.

_I can see her lookin' fast, in her faded jeans_

_She's a hard-lovin' woman, got me feelin' mean._

_Sometimes I think it's a shame, when I get feelin' better, when I'm feelin' no pain._

_Sundown ya better take care, if I find you been creepin' 'round my back stairs!_

"I'll take Things That Make Ya Go Huh? for a thousand, Alex." Bobby said, the first to speak. His gaze ironically landed on Tig.

Before Alex _Trager_ could comment, the club house door opened and Clay strode in, addressing the gathered members, "Quinn called, the Nomads accepted Jax's bid for transfer, but seeing as Happy's bike is parked in the lot, I'm guessin' you all heard that news already."

"Yep." Bobby nodded with a sigh, "Last night."

"Is he really going through with this?" Half Sack asked from behind the bar, literally in disbelief.

"Yep." Bobby muttered again, casting a blaming look at Clay.

Shooting back an incredulous look of his own, the President advised, "I didn't strike the goddamn match."

"Maybe that's a case you make to Jax…" Opie said, now sitting up, eyes almost pleading.

"If he really believes that I'd burn down CaraCara then I got no reason to keep him around." Clay snapped and headed towards the chapel. He said over his shoulder, "Need a full table. Vote's gotta be unanimous."

In the background, GordonLightfootonce again added his two cents...

_Sometimes, I think it's a sin when I feel like I'm winnin', when I'm losin' again... _

_**XXX**_

_Bless your soul, you got your head in the clouds,_

_You made a fool out of you and boy, she's bringing you down._

_She made your heart melt but you're cold to the core_

_Now __rumour __has __it__s he __ain't __got your love anymore_

_Rumour has it, ooh rumour..._

_Rumour has it, ooh rumour..._

Talking over the earthy voice emanating from Vix's iPhone, Hap shook his head, "Can't say I ever heard of her."

"What rock have you been living under? You never heard Adele?" Vix scoffed and grinned, holding up her finger, "Probably into the classic shit, I get it. _Skynyrd's__Innards_ is on my Deserted Island list but this chick's voice man... it's somethin' else."

"I never understood that list." Hap shrugged as he raised his head and switched his focused stare from the bare skin of her thigh to her face. "Books I get, you can read in the sun. But there probably ain't electricity on the island, right?"

"Never really thought about that. Well, shit! That sucks!"

"Hap!" The raised voice of Jax sounded from the other side of the locked dorm room door, along with a loud knock.

"Yeah?" The Nomad hollered back.

"Need a word." The SAMCRO VP advised, sounding irritated.

Hap blew out a breath, replying with an irritated edge of his own. He didn't care for the interruption. "Yeah, alright." He rotated his stiff shoulders and crained his neck from one side to the other in an attempt to loosen a knot from being in the chair he'd been occupying for the last hour and half. Glancing at Vix, he shot an uncharacteristic grin. "I think we were about done anyway."

They both seemed to glance down at her upper thigh, freshly tatt'd with the design he'd freehanded- angel wings forming a heart around a dog's paw print. Spawn's name and 2009 scripted over top.

"It is fantastic and totally kick-ass, Hap." Vix said with a sniffle, pushing up on her tip-toes, she planted a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks, man."

"No problem." Hap muttered, oddly, slightly embarrassed. He stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind as he up-nodded to Jax. "What's up, Bro?"

"What the fuck's goin' on with Vix?"

"Ink job, why?"

"Jesus Christ. From the second my tires hit the lot, no less than five people approached me with stories ranging from the pornographic to the ridiculous."

Under any other circumstances, Hap would have found amusement in the scuttlebutt, but when said gossip concerned him bangin' a brother's ol' lady- he didn't find an ounce of hilarity. "You serious?"

In his head he heard the lyrics to the song he and Vix were ironically just listening to …

_Just cause I said it… don't mean I meant it,_

_Just cause you heard it...rumour has it, ooh..._

"As a heart attack, man. Just relax, I'll go put an end to the whispers down the alley. I'm guessing a leg tat?"

"Thigh."

Jax nodded, "Explains your '_lose __the __pants__' _request." He sighed and turned back up the hall. "Hey, we're rollin' out in 'bout twenty minutes for St. Thomas. Chibs got his walking papers, you comin'?"

"Hell yeah." Happy replied and re-entered the dorm.

_**XXX**_

"I'm really glad we were able to snag you for a late lunch." Tara said as she rocked Abel on her knee and they both watched as Jaci slid into the booth across from them at the Hamburger Barn.

"Most of my lunches are late." Jaci said with a laugh as she divvied their food orders between them, fries only for Tara and a cheeseburger and chocolate shake for herself. The lunch invite had been out of the blue and she chided herself for feeling awkward around Tara. That was just guilt over the little custody subplot her and Jax had brewing but she knew she couldn't act any differently than normal. _Poker__Face, __Poker__face._ She chanted in her head and up-nodded at her friend, "So what's up?"

Tara sighed. "I'm having the shittiest…" She stopped talking abruptly and glanced down at Abel then corrected herself. "_Crappiest_ day ever…just needed a sympathetic ear."

Jaci couldn't help but smirk. "If you heard how many F bombs Vix and I drop around him, you wouldn't be so concerned with _shitty_;never mind the stuff Little Man hears at the garage." She made eye contact with Abel and grinned as she spoke, which sparked a grin from the baby in return. "You get an earful over there, don't chya? No way your first word is gonna be Da-Da, is it? Nope, it's gonna be a bad word and we're not gonna know whether to laugh at you or spank you, huh?" Abel squealed at the tone of his aunt's voice and clapped his hands.

"Well…he might not say Da-Da for other reasons." Tara deadpanned. "I just found out that Jax is going Nomad."

The smile dropped from Jaci's face instantaneously. "Nomad? Why?"

Tara dropped her voice to make sure they weren't overheard and shrugged. "You saw the way everyone was going at each other at Gemma's the other night. He says he needs to get away from Clay, says this is the right thing to do, best for everyone, that it will fine…"

"Bullshit." Jaci retorted and wanted to punch her brother in law. _Nomad_. He must have had that little move all planned out when he had asked her to draw up the guardianship papers the other day. If he went Nomad and wasn't home as often Stahl might get her chance to make good on her threat to get Child Services involved in the situation. She glanced at Abel and thought both their worlds might be getting turned on their head very soon.

She stared at Tara very seriously, "You don't want Jax to do this, Tara. No matter how FINE he says it will be. Going Nomad can be very dangerous. I mean, I guess it's working out for Happy pretty well, but he doesn't have Jax's stature or a family to worry about."

"I know…you sound exactly like Gemma."

"She knew about it? What did she say?"

"Well, I _told_her about it. I didn't know what else to do. I don't have a lot of experience with this stuff. His mind is made up, he didn't even discuss it with me, just made the decision and that was that. Gemma was stunned…mad. I'm sure she's going to talk to him about it."

Jaci groaned and put her burger down, suddenly not hungry and thought for a moment. "Well…normally I'm not for ratting out grown men to their mommies, but in this case, her argument might make sense. Surely she's seen this Nomad shit go bad over the years."

"Could you talk to him too?" Tara asked nervously. "He thinks I don't know what I'm talking about and I guess he's right. But you…you grew up around all this. Maybe he would listen to you?"

_Yeah__… __there__'__s __nothing __more __these __guys __like __than __a __bunch __of __women __trying __to __tell __them __what __to __do._ Jaci thought to herself but nodded. "Yeah, I'll talk to him." _Gotta __see __when __my __nephew__'__s __moving __into __my __house __anyway._She blew out a breath. "Well that certainly is enough to make one's day _crappy_."

Tara shook her head. "That's not all…I get to work today, only to find out that I've been put on suspension. I guess my coaching Chibs on how to fake a head injury relapse didn't go un-noticed."

"Shit." Jaci breathed and took in the pained look on her friend's face. Tara was scared, about losing Jax, losing her job. And damn, what a job to lose. This wasn't like getting canned from the Dollar Store or something. Even though St. Thomas was a relatively small hospital, getting fired was a harsh black mark on a young career. And if she lost the Charming gig, what was she supposed to do? With Jax off playing Nomad and her unemployed, steady income was going to be a tricky subject. And to think she lost her job doing a favor for the Club, that was a kick to the balls for sure. "I'm sorry, Tara."

The young doctor shrugged and looked away, trying to blink away tears of frustration. "It's my own fault…I wanted to help." She sniffled and looked back at Jaci. "Jax doesn't know…I don't know how to tell him with all this other stuff going on. Just keep it between us for now, ok?"

Jaci nodded. _Sure,__I__'__m __good __at __hiding __shit, __no__problem._With the world seemingly crashing down around her, she needed to know just where Tara stood on things. "Where are you at with everything then? I mean…if Jax does go Nomad and the job thing…? Are you fighting or flying here?"

"I don't know." Tara answered and once again, tried to fight back tears. "I don't want to leave, Jaci…but the Nomad thing…it feels like, like Jax doesn't care. He'll just see us when he sees us. And what am I supposed to do for a job? I'm doctor! I'm supposed to go from making that kind of money to working at the grocery store?" She hugged Abel tight on her lap and kissed the top of his head.

The sweet gesture towards her nephew broke Jaci's heart. She could tell without a doubt that Tara loved the baby, loved Jax but was at the end of her rope. It was one thing to compromise in a relationship; it was a nothing to be left holding the bag of responsibility all the time. Hell, that's why she wasn't with Tig anymore…it was too one sided.

Silence hung between the girls and Jaci started playing with her milkshake. Never one to just drink them through a straw, she picked up spoonfuls of the frozen treat and dropped them back into the glass. "I'll talk to Jax, leave out your little job trouble but I'll see what I can get out of him. Just don't panic yet, ok? Maybe your boss is just bluffing…gives you a slap on the wrist and you're right back at work. You know how shit goes in this town, it blows up and blows over…maybe this all will blow over just as fast."

"Maybe." Tara replied but she didn't seem very convinced.

A second later a gurgle escaped from Abel's lips. The girls turned their attention to the baby who was staring intently at Jaci's milkshake antics. He reached out his hands like he was trying to claw the air to get closer to the treat. Both girls laughed despite their situations.

"Damn boy…you want some huh?" Jaci teased and then held out her arms to her little nephew. "Come on over, big guy."

Tara smiled, "I don't think he's ever had ice cream before. Would have but we haven't managed to have his birthday party yet. With Chibs getting out of the hospital today, I thought we could get it back on track but then all this…"

"Mmm, first birthday…another guilt tool in the arsenal against your daddy." Jaci said quietly and winked at Tara as she sat the baby down on her lap. She moved a tiny spoonful of milkshake towards Abel's opened mouth. "Open wide, buddy…Aunt J's gonna hook you up. Just think of it as really awesome milk." He smacked and took in the ice cream, immediately wanting more. "Ahhh, chocolate makes everything better, huh bud?" _Damn __I__ wish __that __were __true...__I'd __ram __a __candy __bar __up __everybody's __ass __in __this __town __and __we'd __all __be __happy._

_**XXX**_

"Don't know what's causin' it, Ronnie." Vix stood in the garage bay at TM talking to one of the mechanics on the payroll. "It's just this clicking noise coming from the rear, non-stop clicking, started up few days ago."

"I'll take a look see, gotta switch out a water pump and do an oil change first though. Just me here right now. You gonna be 'round for an hour or so?"

"Yeah, Gemma asked me to watch the office for a bit, keep an eye on the old man. First time he's been 'round since Chibs' _accident._" She glanced over to where Piney was parked on his ass under the club house pavilion lookin' like Waylon's inspiration for _Lonesome, __On__'__ry __and __Mean_.

In her jeans pocket, The Doors started singing, 'People are strange when you're a stranger…' Knowing that was her ring tone for any unknown/strange number, she eyed the display before pressing the Talk button. "Yeah...depends on who you are?"

Vix stepped into the office and closed the door against the garage noise. "Hello, _Gina __from __Health__Net __Labs_, this is her… what Juice do? Burn through all my blood, need more? What do you mean you couldn't use it? Wait, look, ok, I forgot to mention the tattoo, honestly it slipped my mind, but he won't care if I got ink'd in the last 6 months...what?"

She felt the room go sway, as if she'd boarded a tilt-a-whirl. "Excuse me?" She gushed as she collapsed into the desk chair. Her head began to swim, every noise amplified and flowing around her… the voice on the other end of the connection mixed with the muffled shop sounds beyond the closed door. In a daze, Vix pulled the phone from her ear, "I gotta go." She mumbled and hit the End button, effectively cutting off one of the auditory attacks.

Letting the phone fall with a muffled thud to the cluttered desk top, she leaned forward, resting her elbows amid the invoices, parts catalogs, time sheets and completed repair orders. She braced her head in her hands, closed her eyes trying to stop the spinning. The sound of approaching footsteps drew her attention and as she raised her head she found herself looking at a gun.

As she stared down the barrel of the handgun, in her head she heard the folksy, educational lyrics, _The __finger__bo__ne's __connected __to __the __hand__bone._She tore her eyes from the shiny metal and let them travel to the hand holding the piece. _The __hand__bone's __connected __to __the __arm __bone, __The __arm__bone's __connected __to __the __shoulder__bone. _Her gaze rove up the arm, landing on the face of the fuck-head brandishing it.

"Whatcha think about this, Repo Bitch?" Sneered the twenty-something who stood holding a 9mm out at a 90-degree angle, elbow locked, Gangsta-style with a _fuck __you _expression etched clearly on his face.

_Are __you __fuckin' __kidding __me? __Not __again!_ was the thought currently bouncing around in Vix's head but what came out of her mouth was, "You've clearly got more bravado than brains."

"Shut the fuck up!"

"You asked me what I thought." Vix shook her head feigning a little bravado of her own - though she'd be hard pressed to admit it- inside she was not feeling it. She and Juice were burning though God's graces... shivings and chokings and now a second gun aimed at her in less than a week.

'_Steady __Girl' _came the imagined voice of Uncle BB, _'Fake __it __til __you __make __it, __darlin'_.

She released a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, "Did you happen to take a look around as you strolled in?" She used the opportunity to steal a glance outside. _What __the __fuck __was __Piney __doin'?_ _Napping?_ "You don't know who you're dealing with. If you got one functioning brain cell, you'd get the fuck outta here!"

"Shut the fuck up, bitch. I ain't goin' no wheres wit'out my ride."

She heard the air compressor cut off and prayed that Ronnie would glance in the direction of the office, need a jolt of caffeine, maybe. _Please!_ But just as quickly it sounded it's high-pitched whine again. _Fuck!_ "Look, I'll gladly release your vehicle, all you have to do is pay what you owe and the impound fee..."

"Says you... but Mr. Smith and Wesson here says I don't..."

Vix rolled her eyes and glanced at the garage. The mechanic still had his back to the office, attention focused on the silver Acura in front of him. _Shit!_ "Smith AND Wesson? They would be two different people... ok, if you're gonna threaten me at least do it properly."

"Give me my car or I'll put a cap in yo' ass..."

An amused laugh burst out of Vix before she could stop it. She leaned back in the chair, "I don't think you've got the balls. But, ok say I'm wrong, it happens sometimes. How do you think that will end for you, hmm? You gonna find the key to the impound lot? Make it outta here in one piece, 'fore that mechanic out there- having heard the gunshot, don't storm in here and beat you to within an inch of your worthless little life... hmm? And that's if you're lucky. There's tools 'round this place licensed to do more than just engine repair...so why don't you lose the hardware and let's try to settle this like civilized fuckin' people."

"It'll get settled when you give me my damn car."

_Reason, __Vix. _Came Jaci's phantom advice.

_You __can't __reason __with __crazy, __probably __tweaked, __too. __Look __at __him __shaking __that __gun __around, __shit! __Jesus!_

_Try,__Vix. _Jaci pleaded in her head.

_Fine! _

Vix held up her hands slightly. "Look, I'm sure you can understand that we can't go givin' the keys back to vehicles we legally repossessed. We do that and word gets out, every deadbeat with a piece'll be lined up 'round the block."

Taking an aggressive step forward and cutting the air in front of Vix with the gun, the ass hat seethed, "I ain't no deadbeat!"

Throwing her hands up, surrender style, Vix pressed back in the chair, "Ok.. ok.. fine.. geez! Look, I don't wanna get blown away over some repossessed Piece of Shit..."

"Bitch, I drive a Viper!" He corrected.

"Nice. I can see why you're so attached." She rolled her eyes, "Look, I'll hand over the keys to the impound lot but I gotta reach in the desk drawer to do that. I don't want you shootin' me when I'm complyin'."

"You pull out anything but a ring of keys and I'll put a bullet between your eyes."

"Fair enough." Tugging open the middle desk drawer with an angry yank, Vix reached in and retrieved a ring of keys. She shoved the drawer shut and leaned her elbows on the desk, turning the ring over and over in her hands. She looked up and eyed the fuck nut. "I don't know which key it is... I'm only fillin' in here."

She cleared her throat as she made a play for time. "But I do have another scenario I'm compelled to run by you. I hand these keys over to you... the entrance to the impound lot is half-way down the parking lot ... in plain sight. Do you think you can make it? hmm?"

She paused to let him contemplate and silently sent up prayers to whichever Supreme Being would listen, that one of the two other individuals on the premise might cast a glance in this direction, see what the fuck is going on. "Hhmm? Ok, think 'bout it, 'cause then you gotta figure out which key on this big ol' ring of 'em opens that walk-through gate. Hell, maybe you're lucky and you draw the key on the first try. You still gotta find your car, get to it, get it to the exit and find the key that unlocks the drive-through gate since I know your ass ain't gonna crash the-Viper-so-beloved-that-you're-holdin'-me-at-gunpoint-for. You gotta accomplish all that 'fore Hell rains down. What do you think your chances are? I personally think pretty slim comin' from a dude can't even manage to pull his own zipper up..." She smirked, casting a quick glance south of the border of his waistline.

As hoped, the dick weed lowered his gaze southward and Vix popped out of the chair, scrambled across the desk and plowed into the fuck head as if she was on _Survivor_ and tacklin' his ass was an immunity challenge.

Startled, he dropped the gun and it clattered to the floor. Vix lunged for the gun and was just getting her fingers on it before the cocksucker grabbed her ankle, tripping her. She fell hard on her coccyx and felt all the air in her lungs exit in a whoosh. Knocking her completely backwards, her assailant scrambled over top of her going for the gun. Once again, Vix found herself beneath a man hell bent on causing her harm. She began pounding her fists into the fucker's upper body, bucking wildly with her lower half, trying to unseat him.

She didn't hear the screaming...the asshole's or her own.

She didn't hear the sounds of running feet fast approaching her…

She didn't hear Piney and Ronnie both hollering...

She didn't hear the odd clang of Piney's O2 tank connecting with the douche bag's head…

What she DID hear was Gina, from Health Net Labs, advising, _"__We __can__'__t __accept __your __blood __donation, __Ms.__Parker.__The __preliminary __screenings __showed __markers __indicating __that __you__'__re __pregnant.__" _

_**XXX**_

Gemma's SUV rolled onto the TM lot. She braked in front of the office and slid out from behind the wheel. Removing her sunglasses and eyeing the hog-tied individual currently laying bleeding on the office stoop she asked, "What the hell?"

"Jackass pulled a gun on Vix." Piney informed, staring over at the gun-toting asshole currently laying with his wrists and ankles bound with duct tape. "Angry his car was repo'd."

"Jesus Christ" The Queen's eyes snapped to Vix, seated on the bottom most step, pale and withdrawn "You're having one hell of a week, sweetheart. You alright?"

"I need to see Juice."

Gemma nodded, "Alright, baby." Glancing at Piney, she up-nodded. "I'll run her to Stockton... been meaning to visit our last remaining pin cushion. Call Charming P.D. Last time I checked, trying to steal back the vehicle we legally stole from you was against the law. So's pullin' guns on innocent people or so I've heard." Gemma instructed the mechanic as they all turned towards the lot, at the sound of approaching motorcycles.

XX

Backing his bike into its place in the parking line, Tig unsnapped his helmet and hung it from the handlebars.

"What the hell happened?" He heard Clay holler as the two made their way over to the quartet gathered around the office front. Behind them on the stoop, a man lay in an unconscious heap, temple bloodied, wrists and ankles bound with duct tape.

"Jumped Vix, at gunpoint. Apparently pissed we repo'd his car." Gemma answered.

"Jesus Christ." Clay blinked.

"What the fuck?" Tig shook his head, "She alright?" He asked to those gathered, then crouched in front of Vix, who sat huddled on the bottom step, "You alright?"

"Be better if everyone stops tryin' to kill me."

He heard Clay chuckle, however, Tig took a pass at being an ass. She had a valid point. Lately crazy happenstance had made it appear as if the youngest Parker had a big, _Just __Shoot __Me,_sign hanging around her neck. He reached down and patted her shoulder, "You just keep one-uppin' em, Angelface." He watched semi-amused, at Vix's startled expression. "You'll be alright."

"I'm gonna take to Stockton, see Juice." Gemma advised, eying her husband. "You gotta be pretty motivated to steal your car back at gun point."

"Maybe he was worried Dominos would fire him." Clay smirked, shooting Tig a look. "Go check out which automobile he belonged to."

"Yeah." The SAA nodded then looked at Gemma. "You need help with her?"

"Think I can manage." Gemma replied.

"Viper." Vix advised, as she made it to her feet.

_**XXX**_

Thirty minutes later, Half Sack and Opie pulled onto the TM lot with their latest repossession, a van from the Indian Reservation. The Prospect popped open the back of the SUV and pulled out his knife as he stared at the cargo bay full of boxes. "I got dibs on this shit. You guys got all that other stuff the other day, I'm due something."

Opie snorted as he walked to the back of the SUV. "Boxes of beads…all yours, Prospect. Think there's any money in that?"

"Maybe…could sell it to a jewelry maker or something. That's getting to be a big deal these days. I did a lot of therapeutic macramé when I was healing up back in the Service. " Half Sack answered as he slit the tape on a box. He opened the lid and the inner compartment and removed a layer of cardboard, only to reveal tightly packed bullets instead of decorative beads. "Holy shit." The Prospect blew out a slow breath and looked over his shoulder to where some of the guys were standing around at the fringes of the garage. "Clay! Tig!"

The Prez and SAA came walking over just as Half Sack pulled a few bullets free and held them up for display. Tig cocked his head as he held one of the full metal jackets. "Where you'd get these?"

"Indian Reservation." Opie answered matter of fact.

Clay and Tig exchanged a long look and after a quick pondering of the operation, a smile spread across the President's face. "Let's go pay our little friends a visit."

_**XXX**_

"Shit!" Vix muttered, eyeing the pop-up reminder on her cell phone.

"What?"

"Ellie and Kenny. I'm supposed to pick 'em up at school today." Vix blew out a breath. "Mothershitfuck!"

Gemma scoffed as she walked. "Right, like you're ready to deal with kids."

_Touche._Vix thought to herself.

"I'll get 'em." Gemma said, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk at the entrance of Stockton Memorial Hospital. "Give Juice my love. Call when you're ready. Someone'll pick you up."

"Okay. Thanks, Gem."

"No problem, sweetheart." Gemma replied as she turned back around and headed towards the lot where she parked her SUV. So much for a visit to the pin cushion.

Vix proceeded into the lobby of the hospital and waited. She gave Gemma a full ten minutes dilly-dally time before walking back outside and making a bee-line for the chain pharmacy a block down the street. She perused the aisles until she found what she was looking for. As the clerk rung her out, she counted her blessings that Juice, if he had to be laid up in a hospital, it wasn't at St Thomas. In a town like Charming that ran on gossip, word of a Son's ol' lady seen buyin' a pregnancy test would have spread like wildfire.

Once back at the hospital, she ducked into the ladies rest room conveniently located off the lobby and in the handicapped stall, she took another test that she knew she was destined to fail. The lab had the blood proof, but she couldn't _see_that. On this she needed a visual. Two minutes later, she got one.

"Oh, Fuck Me!" She groaned way too loud. _Touche,__Vix._

XX

_The __African __Lion__…_ the rest of what the narrator was saying was lost to the background when Juice heard the door open and watched Vix walk in. "Hey baby." He heard her say, getting the distinct impression that any good in the tiding was being forced. "Hey…what's goin' on?"

With a sigh, she sunk into the chair beside his bed. "You got several hours?"

"Matter-of-fact." He replied with a grin, hoping it would be contagious but apparently it was about the only thing in this germ-infested-place that wasn't. "You didn't fuck Hap did you?"

He practically startled her out of her chair, she'd drawn back so fast. "Excuse me?"

"I... I was just tossin' out a worst case scenario. Ya know, thought it might help, if whatever you have to tell is SO much better than that …but clearly it didn't help."

"I kicked the shit outta Polly Zobelle."

It was his turn to be startled, "What? When?"

"Night we all went Honky Tonkin' at Big Daddy's, the bon voyage for 'Bama. Nolan didn't wreck his bike. He laid her down on purpose as a cover for the bruises I got scufflin' with the Nazi Barbie."

Then he heard Stahl in his head. All the allegations she made while shoving her glossy 8x10's in his face, during her visit to the prison infirmary. "Ok. Why are you tellin' me …"

He watched her push to her feet and start pacing. "Cause I'm not ten-feet tall or bulletproof. I looked down the barrel of 9 millimeter today, Jean. Dude was pissed off and probably high to boot." She gushed – futile would be trying to get a word in and he was too shocked to give it a try. "Couple of days ago, I almost got choked to death, had another gun pointed at me and my dog and a friend both got murdered. I keep on line jumpin' en route to the Pearly Gates, sooner or later Me and St. Peter are gonna have an untimely face-to-face."

"JUST WAIT!" He held up his hand. "Who pulled a gun on you…what are you talkin' about? What the fuck?"

Flopping back down in the chair, she pitched forward, elbows on her knees, head in her hands and regaled him with her horror story of the earlier goings on at Teller Morrow. When she finally finished she glanced up, "And here you are, still healing from being stabbed while you were in county lock up. Juice, we BOTH need to start using the good sense God gave us… we have more to think about than just ourselves."

"I know." He shook his head and sighed, "Look, the club don't need to know what happened in Galt. If they do find out, you were just defending yourself. She accosted you while you were shoppin' for your sign." He blew out a breath. "Shit that happened today, I dunno. That's just … I gotta get the fuck outta here."

"You need to get better first, Juice."

"Bullshit! I'm supposed to be coverin' your blind side, I can't do that laid up in here being poked and prodded and…"

"I need you whole and healed, not rushin' outta here to play handicapped version of a white knight." She gave him a solid level stare. "I'm pregnant."

She coulda been speaking Greek for all the sense her words made to him at first.

XX

Vix watched him blink and stare back at her. She could tell when his brain finally began to process and understand her blurted news because she watched him begin to withdraw. Suddenly, feeling more frightened than she'd ever been in her life, even at having a gun waved in her face, she jumped out of the chair, reached out and grabbed his hand. " Juice, please don't shut down on me. I need you here, ok? I can't handle this by myself."

He cocked his head and stared at her, "How do you think you're gonna be?"

He woulda hurt her less if he'd just punched her in the face. "Juice, I…"

"I'm facing Federal charges, Vix. Serious prison time and I knock you up?" He shook his head and laughed. The sound was so out of place at the moment it was almost obscene. "Could our timing be any more fucked up? Jesus Christ!" She felt his eyes staring at abdomen, like he could see a visual sign that her body'd taken up double occupancy. "How sure are you?"

"EPT claims to be 99% accurate, according to the box."

Without a trace of humor in his voice, "We are the one percent, Vix. We live our lives by that percentage. Maybe..."

The earnest hopeful tone of his voice made her cringe. She needed to nip any doubt in the bud, "I'm pregnant, Jean. The reason I even took the test… the lab here at the hospital runs tests on all donated blood, apparently and when I tried to donate for you levels showed that I'm pregnant. Chick from the lab here called me. That's how I found out in the first place. EPT was just my visual confirmation. I'm so sorry. Baby, I know we're…" Her voice trailed off as her mind tried to find the right phrase …_just __settling __back __into __a __good __place__ … __barely __able __to __keep __ourselves __alive?_

"…gonna have a kid." Juice offered completion of her thought.

Hearing him say it, acknowledging it, had such a profound effect on her, she failed at controlling the sob that busted forth. She knew she looked like an idiot, sobbing and nodding and sniffling.

"Come 'ere." He said, reaching for her. "Come on…" He patted the mattress next to him, shifting ever so gently to make room for her to climb in and lay next to him. When she complied, he cupped her chin and neck with both his hands. Vix could feel his fingers thread at the nape of her neck. With his thumbs massaging the bone along her jaw line, he locked eyes with her, "We'll figure it out, ok?" He blessed her with a goofy grin that was both comical and reassuring.

"Okay." She nodded, stealing courage and encouragement from him.

"But…until we do, not a word to anyone. Not your sister, not my Gram, no 'Bama Fam, not anyone from the club. You and me. We keep this between just us for a while."

"Figure it out?" To her own ears she sounded worried and reluctant as she eased herself out of his embrace and back to about mid-mattress. She faced him, confused and tried to clarify. "You don't want this baby?"

"No. Wait…. not _no_. Jesus Christ." He reached up and absentmindedly rubbed his head, which time away from a razor had led to the disappearance of his Mohawk and bolts, under a full outcropping of hair. "That's not what I meant." He muttered, frustrated. "Vix, I'm a hairdresser… you're a mechanic."

"Really? Are we now?"

Heaving a frustrated growl at his misspoken words, Juice rolled his eyes. "We just need to figure shit out first. Have answers to all the questions that are sure to be asked. Grandma Ruby will hear this news and shoot the moon and then let loose an interrogation that'll make the Spanish Inquisition seem like a pop quiz. Your sister? She'll question us like we're going for a home equity loan. Guarantee first question will be on that subject. And she'd be right, where are we gonna put a baby in my apartment? What are we gonna do bumper the bathtub? And I don't even want to think about how your uncle is gonna react, probably something involving a shotgun or an electric knife and a pair of pliers."

Relief pooling inside her, Vix nodded. "So what you're sayin' is we need to have all our little duckies lined up?"

"Ducks, sheep, frogs, little pink bunnies." Juice suddenly paled, "What the fuck are we gonna do if it's a girl?"

The look of abject horror on his face caused Vix to laugh. "I dunno. Guess we teach her to hunt, fish, fight, spit, kick ass, take names, walk, talk, read, write. We'll love her, Jean. Just the same as we'll do if I have your son." Vix said the words so serenely that it belied the freaking out she was doing on the inside.

Juice nodded, swallowing hard with tears visibly welling up in his eyes. "Holy Fuck!"

Nodding, she smiled, "I know. It'll be alright." Repositioning herself, she gently snuggled next to him. She felt him turn slightly and slip his arm around her, hand finding his favorite resting place, cupping her hip.

"I love you." He murmured against her forehead.

"You'd better." She laughed then turned her head and stole a kiss. "I love you, too, Jean."

A knock at the door startled the two of them and they jumped apart like a couple of teenagers caught makin' out by their parents. The door swung open to reveal Jax and Bobby.

"Busted!" Jax teased with a grin.

"This some kind of new therapy they're tryin'?" Bobby joked. "Little bit of Love Therapy?"

Vix rolled her eyes. She didn't relish the invasion but smiled pleasantly and echoed Juice's greeting of, "Hey guys."

"How you doin', sweetheart?" Jax sobered and asked with concern.

"Heard what happened at TM." Bobby added.

"Thank God, she's fine." Juice answered for her, ire noticeable. "I'm more interested in it not happening again."

"Agreed!" Bobby nodded. "We'll keep a closer eye on …"

"Nah. Soon as the doctor comes 'round, I'm outta here."

"Juice?" Vix half-questioned, half-pleaded. But noting the look he shot her direction, she shut up realizing it was a moot point. He'd want to keep his _own_ two eyes on her, even without the added secret bun-in-the-oven.

"I shoulda been out of here already. I don't give a rat's ass about blood in my stool."

"Thanks for _that_ update." Bobby rolled his eyes, making a _yuck_ face.

"When's the doctor due 'round again?" Jax asked.

"Probably after dinner."

"No way are you getting released from here before tomorrow morning." Jax said then nodded at Vix. "We need a word with your ol' man, sweetheart."

She watched Juice give her a nod. Standing up she reached for her bag. "Ok, I'll go down to the cafeteria, grab something to eat. Get you guys anything?"

"Give me a minute" Jax said nodding at the hall, "I'll walk down with ya."

XX

The door closed behind Vix. Juice eyed his VP and Bobby, "What's goin' on?"

"Gonna need you to Proxy a vote." Jax advised.

_**XXX**_

Right at the end of her work day, Jaci received a text from Jax, asking her to drop by Teller Morrow as soon as possible. She agreed, very much wanting to have a serious chat about his latest life plans after talking to Tara earlier in the day.

Jax hung around his bike and kept an eye on the TM entrance for Jaci. As he walked out to her car, he fired up a cigarette, still stressed from the talk with his mom, it seemed everybody had an opinion on his Nomad decision. He upnodded at his sister in law. "You got the papers?"

"Yeah." She answered as she stepped out of her car and scanned the lot and garage bays, mindful of who was watching them. She only saw Clay and Bobby showing any interest and wondered where the President's his right hand man was.

He watched her frown and knew who she was wary of. "Don't worry…he's not here. And at this point, I don't give a shit what anybody else sees."

"Yeah, it seems you don't give a shit about a lot of things." Jaci retorted and stared at him. "Nomad? That was your brilliant goddamn plan from the start? I don't appreciate the bullshit story of all the 'just in case's'. You knew you were pulling this stunt all along. When's the big day…just so I know because as soon as Stahl gets wind of your little status change, we'll end up in court."

Jax rolled his eyes. "Who told you? Tara or my mom?"

"Tara…she's worried sick about you." Jaci replied. "And you can sing the 'it will be fine' song to her ass all you want but I know better. I guarantee this Nomad shit is going to blow up in your face, Jax. You need to re-think this. I know it sounds like a great idea but the reality of it is gonna to be very different. I've see what happens…"

"Jesus, you sound like my mom. Save the big speech." Jax shook his head roughly. "I stay here, Jaci…we're all gonna get our worst case scenarios. The only way to stop that is to leave for a while. You just have to trust me."

She followed his glare to Clay, who was watching them with blatant interest. "You hate him…what the hell's happened, Jax?"

"So much shit…I can't get into it, you know that." Jax answered. "You and Tig done?"

"Yeah and I know we've said that before but…there's nothing good there."

"Good, Tig's a cancer that will suck the life out of you or worse." He let his words hang in the air but knew the horrible shit Tig and Clay had done ever came to light, leaving him for good wouldn't such be a hard decision for her anymore. He wanted to keep everything quiet to try and save his club, to save Opie anymore pain but knew it was probably just a matter of time. Secrets and lies never stayed buried.

After a long moment of silence, Jaci reached inside her car and discretely handed him a stack of folded papers along with a pen. "All you have to do is sign at the marked places."

Jax opened the stack of papers and read over them, subconsciously holding them at chest level and using her car to put a block between them and the prying eyes of his soon to be ex-President. After making sure everything was lined out as they had previously discussed, he puts his cigarette in his mouth as he signed on all the dotted lines. "Rosen help you with this?" He glanced up with a half smirk, trying to lighten the heavy moment.

"Not funny." Jaci retorted. "And no… I figured if we're trying to keep this on the down low, we shouldn't use a guy whose morals are tied direct to his bank account. Between my paralegal knowledge and the lovely Internet full of stock legal formats, this wasn't really that hard."

He finished, folded and handed the papers back to Jaci. "There ya go." After getting only a solemn nod from his sister in law, he catches her eye and says firmly, "This is the best thing, Jaci."

"Jax, you are seriously freaking me the hell out." She said randomly. "The custody stuff, the Nomad stuff…I'm not liking the vibe."

He waved her off. "No freaking out allowed, J. Everyone is losing their minds around here, I need you to stay cool and calm." She rolled her eyes but nodded. He nudged her with his hand. "I'm really sorry for all this shit…thank you for doing this though, seriously." He pulled her into a quick hug. "It's gonna be fine."

She snorted humorlessly. "Yeah and pig's are gonna fly outta my ass."

"Get outta here." He smiled slightly and pushed her towards her door.

She paused before loading up. "Jax…just think about all of this one last time ok? Make sure there isn't anything you can do to prevent this mess. Everybody in this club is so damn bull-headed…sometimes you have to take the high road, maybe be the adult even though Clay's twice your age? Pride's a killer, Jax."

Jax nodded along reluctantly and walked back to the garage bays as she pulled out of the lot. He noticed Clay was staring at him the whole time. He stepped to his step father with Jaci's words still ringing in his head and decided to give the old man one last chance to stop all of the bullshit. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Bobby watched the pair for a moment and motioned for the other guys working to take a break. He gave Jax an encouraging look before taking a walk himself.

"What'd Parker want?" Clay asked. "She know about your decision?"

Jax nodded along reluctantly and walked back to the garage bays as she pulled out of the lot. He noticed Clay was staring at him the whole time. He stepped to his step father with Jaci's words still ringing in his head and decided to give the old man one last chance to stop all of the bullshit. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Bobby watched the pair for a moment and motioned for the other guys working to take a break. He gave Jax an encouraging look for taking a walk himself.

"What'd Parker want?" Clay asked. "She know about your decision?"

"Yeah…just tying up some loose ends with Abel and Wendy." Jax answered semi-honestly. He stared at the man at had been his father figure for fifteen years and thought about Gemma's words about his real father, how he might have gone a little crazy at the end, had let all the stress of life and the club pull him down. He could finally understand just how heavy the crown of leadership really was, how sometimes every decision you made, even with the best of intentions, turned to shit and hurt everyone around you. He swallowed hard. "Me going Nomad…what's your hit on that?"

Clay shook his head, resigned, "Way we been goin'… makes sense."

"You want me gone?

"You're not putting that on me…this is your decision, you put this transfer in motion." Clay retorted. His words were harsh but his eyes had softened slightly as he realized what Jax was trying to do…trying to extend an olive branch, to maybe slam the brakes on the crazy train they were on. He stared at his stepson and felt equal amounts of love and hate toward the kid. Well, he wasn't exactly a kid anymore, he was a man…full of love for his family, for his club. Clay knew that love well but he also knew those protective feelings that came with it…the willingness to do anything to keep what you loved intact. He and Jax were more similar than either of them wanted to admit and they made them dangerous.

Jax frowned slightly, willing Clay to bend, just the smallest bit, to give him _something_ to work with.

_Just one more fight about a lotta things, _

_And i will give up everything to be on my own again, free again, _

_This time I'm a let it all come out, this time I'm a stand up and shout_

_I'm a do things my way…It's my way, my way or the highway._

He eyed the SAMCRO President. "I'm not putting it on you. I'm asking you a simple question. Do you want me gone? Do you _really_ want me gone?" The question was a loaded double barrel, with that sentence he wasn't just asking about the club roles and he hated himself slightly for seeking out Clay's approval as a father in any capacity.

Clay just stared back at Gemma's son.

_Oh what is a man, what has he got?_

_If not himself, then he has naught_

_To say the words he truly feels_

_And not the words of one who kneels_

_The record shows I took the blows_

_And did it my way_

"Yes." Clay finally answered.

And once again, the sin from which all others arose, PRIDE, claimed two more victims.

_**XXX**_

"Whatcha workin' on?" Juice nodded over at Vix, currently seated with her legs tucked under her- typing away on her lap top.

"Take home essay. I hate this shit. What spewing out three thousand words about a Balzac quote has to do with helping me run my salon I will never know. The fact that I know Balzac isn't the name of some NHL star from the Ukraine is mindboggling enough." She closed the computer and set it over on his over-the-bed table. "You alright now? You took Jax and Bobby's news pretty damn hard."

He heard the un-phrased question in her statement. "No phishing in club shit. You know better." He knew his words were more sternly than her concern warranted, but he was emotionally, mentally, physically wrung out and not up for picking flowery prose. "When are you done with your school shit?"  
"Finals start in three days then I've got three weeks off. Why?"

"This is probably gonna come out all wrong but... given this latest um, development...can you afford to spread yourself as thin as you have been? School, Twisted, home and how you help out with Abel and Opie's kids and The Olds and play beck and call girl to Gemma and the club."

"Beck and CALL girl? That's cute. I've got it all covered, Jean. It's a delicate balance, but..."

"For now, but something is gonna have to give, Vix eventually, right?" He watched her chew over his words, literally she was shredding her bottom lip with her teeth. "I'm just worried. I'll support the shit outta whatever you want to do, but like you said earlier there is more to think about now."

"I am thinkin' about it, especially _it_. Finishing this program, as much as I love to bitch about it, is important to me... to see if I really can accomplish somethin'. Juice, I never graduated high school, I got my GED, yeah - but only really because Roxy made me, almost at gun point. How am I supposed to set an example to our child, if I up and quit every goddamn thing? I'm already prayin' the kid gets your brains and in the same breath worried that it'll think it has a dumbass for a mama. If my dyslexic ass is supposed to teach it to read and write and math and shit, heaven heap thy blessings upon thine offspring."

Juice nodded, "Ok, so school's on the agenda... means something else has gotta be edged back or cut out. We'll figure it out. AND you're not a dumbass, I'VE never read Balzac." He snickered, "I guarantee you mention his name at the club house about the only response you'll get is chuckles over how it rhymes with Ball Sack."

In her chair, Vix choked on the sip of Mountain Dew she'd just taken. "Thanks, cause that is what will be running through my head during my final now. Havin' a kid... you really think we can do this?"

"I think ready-or-not we're gonna find out but, I can tell you, Vix there's no one else on this entire planet that I'd rather take the odds with." He shot her a smile and ran a hand over his head, muttering aloud to himself, "I need a goddamn shave. So what's old Ballsack's words of wisdom?"

"Um…" Opening up the laptop Vix read, "The possession of power does not come with it the knowledge of how to use it."

Juice blinked, the truth in those words sounding loud in his ears as a battle drum. "Read me what you've got so far..."

_**XXX**_

"Nomad Charter voted to accept Jax's transfer. He needs a unanimous vote from this Charter to release him, YAY!" Clay advised the members of SAMCRO and cast his vote to release. He thought about Tig, tripping high on mushrooms at the Indian Reservation and looked at his crew. "I got Tig's proxy vote, he's a YAY."

The vote went around The Redwood Table. Chibs, fresh from his hospital release and still feeling rocked by the craziness that has overrun his club during his time of hospitalization, questioned, "This really what you want Jackie-Boy?" At Jax's reassurance, Chibs growled a heartbroken, "AYE!"

Opie leveled a long, hard look at his best friend before voting to release.

Piney muttered his angry vote of "yes", stubbed out his cigarette and stormed out of the chapel.

Bobby sighed, "Juice voted Yay." And voiced his own vote to the affirmative.

Clay declared the vote unanimous and passed it with a slamming of the gavel.

As his club brothers watched, Jax took his knife and physically slashed his ties to Redwood, removing the charter patches from his Cut.

_**TBC**_

_**Author's Note: Just for the record, we've had Vix's pregnancy planned for YEARS, long long before Lyla and Tara babies started showing up. It just took us longer than we thought to get the chapters published. But rest assured, we have a plan and it's BRILLIANT.**_

_**And before anyone stages a riot, the next chapter will have more Jaci and Tig and it's a doozy so prepare!**_


	28. Chapter 25Past the Point of Rescue

**Walk Away from the Son  
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SoA  
Chapter 25- Past the Point of Rescue**

**By BG and Reaper**

_We are super sorry for the long delay. We know it was brutal on ya'll but real life has come down hard on us lately. Hopefully things are settled now and we can get back on track. Thanks for your continued support!_

_**XXX**_

Vix blinked and stretched out, "Time is it?"

"Really late or real early... take your pick." Juice shifted position slightly in the over-crowded hospital bed.

She glanced up at the wall mounted TV that was casting a bluish tint on everything in the room. "You're watching Public Broadcasting?" She quizzed, eyeing the donor drive for monetary pledges to keep programming going.

"It was either this or reruns of Rosanne... and growin' up with my Gram, she listened to this old shit... ooh Neil Diamond, sweet!"

Vix smiled and jutted her chin towards the screen where the singer was taking the stage. "Ruby listens to Neil Diamond? Really?"

Juice smirked, "HUGE fan...Brother Love's Travelin' Salvation Show, Holly Holy, I am.. I said, Crackin' Rose and all that shit. Sweet Caroline,_ bomp, bomp bomp_." As she bit back a laugh, he shook his head, "Ok, could you maybe not mention the fact that I know the fan-added accompaniment?"

"Your secret's safe is baby."

On the TV, old Neil, and he was aging rapidly but well, began singing a song Vix didn't recall ever hearing. Out of the corner of her eye she caught Juice's grin as he said, "Love this one... reminds me of... us." She leaned her head on his shoulder and listened.

_Money talks  
But it don't sing and dance  
And it don't walk  
And long as I can have you  
Here with me, I'd much rather be  
Forever in blue jeans  
Honey's sweet but it ain't nothin' next to baby's treat_

_And if you pardon me, I'd like to say  
We'll do okay  
Forever in blue jeans_

In the blue-hued darkness, Vix smiled and felt tears prick her eyes. She heard Juice clear his throat in a way that didn't sound the least bit medicinal. "We will… we'll do okay... good, even. Maybe not great, maybe _never _great... "

She shifted again, sitting up and pulling away from him so she could see his face, looking slightly-smurfy though it was."Adjectives, Jean... they're relative. From person to person, from situation to situation... so _okay_ to someone else might be _great_ to me. But you're right... we'll make it through whatever, together alright. Cause I'd rather be busted and flat broke with you than have the world at my fingertips."

He stared at her, still processing her words, then grinned, "College has made you a real smart ass."

She laughed out loud, "I've always been a smart ass... college has made me a smart-ER ass." Shaking her head, she turned and settled back down next to him, just in time for him to say…

"So, I guess I should probably marry you before your uncle emphasizes the need with say a shotgun, hmm?"

Vix closed her eyes. "Are you only askin' because of the baby?"

"Would you only accept for the same reason?"

"I asked first."

"No. I knew I was gonna marry you the second I saw you walk into the clubhouse." He chuckled, as if he were reliving the moment from the previous February. "Loud, obnoxious, Southern, pink haired, gorgeous... like being hit by a lightning bolt, I've never been the same since. Your turn!"

Vix swallowed around the growing lump in her throat. Christ, it was gonna take a strong prescription of chemically altering drugs to get her through the next 7 ½ months or so. "I don't know what to say, everything going through my head at warp speed sounds like it oozes Velveeta but no, Jean. I'm not saying Yes, just because I'm having your baby... " She waited... a full 6-M.I.S.S.I.S.S.I. P.P.I -count, before he reacted.

"You said Yes?"

She smiled, "Yeah I did, Juicy."

_And long as I can have you  
Here with me I'd much rather be  
Forever in blue jeans, babe _

_**XXX**_

Later that morning at Teller Morrow, Bobby drove the black cargo van onto the lot and parked near the clubhouse entrance. Vix popped out of the back and helped the still gingerly walking Juice out of the passenger seat.

Chibs spotted the arrival and shot up from his perch on the picnic table. Grinning he yelled, "Ritalin in the house!" He looked to Vix and then added, "And in the company of Kermit the Frog no less. You're lookin' a little green about the gills, luv."

Vix rolled her eyes, which set her world a-spinning and glared at Juice, fake but convincingly. "God damned breakfast pizza... who ever invented it should be shot. No! Tarred, feathered, drawn, quartered and _then_ shot for good measure. Eggs on pizza!" She gagged and not just for effect, the mere thought was revolting. "And then that one... fuck! Drove back here about 1 mile slower than Dale Earnhardt Junior on a Sunday afternoon!" She breathed through her mouth, closed her eyes and made a weird groaning noise. She shook her head and dashed off towards the nearest trash can.

All the guys that stood around watched her hurl. Happy winced. "Breakfast pizza is some nasty shit, dude."

Rough greetings were given to Juice, with the guys hugging and slapping his back, some almost forgetting his injury. Opie grinned as he pulled away from Juice. "Oh, someone named Dion called, wants to know if you're free for prom?" That set off a round of laughs from Hap and Bobby who were very much aware of the real meaning of the joke.

The horse play was cut short though as Clay and Jax walked up. All are shocked to see Jax and with his VP patches back on none the less. The two welcomed Juice back warmly but then their smiles faded. Jax nodded toward the clubhouse door, "Need to talk to you guys."

Clay glanced at Chibs and then nodded to the boxing ring, "Wake the sleepin' beauties."

_**XXX**_

"Come on, wake up my lil' day trippers!" Chibs yelled as he slammed his hands down on the boxing ring where Tig and Half Sack laid passed out. He grabbed a leg of each man and shook violently until their attached owners roused. "Chapel in five. You with me?"

Tig finally sat up and managed a scowl and a grunt in the Scot's direction. He watched as Chibs grinned and pointed at him before walking inside the clubhouse. He squinted, the daylight hurting his eyes as he looked around, wondering just how in the hell he had made it back to Teller Morrow. The last thing he could remember was kneeling in a field…shit, had he been crying? He shook his head violently and immediately regretted the rough movement. He took stock of his appearance the best he could…his clothes were disheveled and dirty. A run of his hand over his head found his hair unruly and he smelled, desperately in need of a shower.

He cleared his throat and looked to his right. Half Sack was lying face up in the ring with him, blinking slowly. As his eyes scanned the length of the kid, a smile crossed his face. The Prospect's feet were bare and covered with dried mud. His boots sat a few feet away. He kicked at the kid. "Good trip?"

Half Sack sat up and gave him a goofy smile, remembering his trip and mumbled, "Cwarm." He snorted a laugh at his own joke which had Tig frowning and then asked, "How was yours?"

Tig just shook his head, not about to discuss his horrible trip. The key to a good shroom trip was a happy mind. You needed to be calm and chill and in a good mood and if you were, you'd more than likely get a good trip. The dipshit Prospect was _always_ in a good mood, freaking goddamn oblivious to any real stress so of course he got the smooth trip. Tig on the other hand knew he had had no business scarfing down the psychedelics. He was in a damn downward spiral of emotions and pissed off in general lately, couple that with a mounting guilty conscience and his troubles with Jaci…it was a recipe for a disastrous trip.

They slid off the mat and stood stretching their stiff muscles. Just as they started to walk the few feet to the clubhouse Half Sack suddenly grabbed his stomach and looked around frantically. He finally ran for the trash barrel and for the second time that morning it was assaulted as he buried his head inside and hurled violently for a minute or two. Tig stood calmly smoking a cigarette alongside of the kid while he finished.

"Sorry." Half Sack mumbled as he wiped his mouth with the hem of his plaid shirt, embarrassed to be showing any weakness in front of the hardcore SAA.

"Shrooms tear your stomach up...that'll probably happen all day." Tig retorted. "Drink a lot of water, get some sleep and you'll be fine."

"Any other side effects? Last night was my first time."

"Awww, you popped your shroom cherry?" Tig teased and then decided to fuck with the kid. "Let's see… stomach problems, blurred vision, light sensitivity. And…well…sometimes people get stuck in a trip and never get out."

Half Sack's eyes went wide, "I thought that was with LSD?"

"Can happen with shrooms too."

"Shit, are you serious?" The Prospect asked with a frown as he started to pull at his hair, his trademark nervous twitch. "Oh man."

Tig nodded and held his cigarette between his teeth then grabbed the kid's shoulders with fake concern, frowning deeply. "You're not still tripping right now are you?"

"No...I don't think so." Half Sack blurted, worried. "I mean, I feel ok…mostly."

"Then you should be fine...probably." Tig retorted and watched the kid's face scrunch with leeriness. He fought back a smile and slapped the kid twice on the cheek as he walked to the clubhouse.

Half Sack stood outside for a second, staring at his hands, waving them around to see if everything looked normal. He mumbled to himself, "I'm fine...right?" After more paranoid hand waving, he nodded tentatively. "Yeah, I'm fine." He said with a sigh and followed Tig inside.

_**XXX**_

All seats around the table were filled. There had been a few seconds of further welcoming Juice home and a one or two jabs at the rough appearance of Tig and Half Sack but it quickly fell quiet. Then began the stares between the SAMCRO members, wondering just what was going on. Bobby ventured a guess as to their required presence, "I'm guessin' this has something to do with those patches being back on your cut?"

Jax eyed Clay and sighed heavily "I'm not going NOMAD." He cut the anticipated happy response short, "Listen up." He turned his gaze to Clay: his President, his step-father, Gemma's old man...

Clay gathered his internal fortitude and said quietly, "Night of bobby's party, Gemma didn't drive her car into no barrier... she was jumped. Out on 18, Weston and three of his crew... gave her a message to deliver to the club, Stop Running Guns." He paused, not so much for emphasis but as to find the strength to say the words, "They raped her."

_**XXX**_

Juice pushed through the clubhouse door and sucked in a breath. His brain was boiling after hearing the horrible news about Gemma. He had one person on his mind though. As he crossed the lot he asked one of the garage techs, "Seen Vix?"

The guy nodded, "She left about half hour ago."

Juice thanked him and dug out his cell. Dialing her number he got voicemail and left a simple message of 'call me' and text the same thing. He paced around in a tight circle until his phone rang in his hand two minutes later. "Where you at?" Juice asked, failing miserably at keeping a worried edge out of his voice.

"Twisted. you sound horrible. I told you you're not 100% yet, baby. You need me to come back for you?"

"I'm fine... I'll be there in a few minutes." He hung up before she could question him further. Snagging the keys to the work van, he drove off in the direction of Vix's salon, inconveniently located directly across Main Street from Impeccable Smokes and Zoebelle, Weston, and whichever of his scumbag asshole associates who'd joined in on the rape of Gemma Teller. Even after being told they were all M.I.A. he still floored the gas. He and Vix were on a good run of bad luck and it would be par for this course to have them make a sudden appearance while his ol' lady was alone and unawares. But she wasn't _alone_, was she? She was carrying around some pretty precious cargo. Juice ran a red light and swerved to miss a Towncar who had the right-of-way. The driver of the vehicle blasted his horn, screamed "MORON!" out the window. Juice cringed and yelled "Sorry!" but kept on going.

XX

"Vix!" Juice hollered as he entered the silent salon. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that the smokes shop was deserted. A second later he heard footfalls upstairs and watched as she descended the steps. At the bottom she stopped and eyed him with a frown then without a word crossed the salon, switched the OPEN sign off and turned the locks on the door. He followed her back upstairs to her office, shutting the door behind them. As she took a seat in the big, leather chair on the opposite side of the desk, he was hit by a flash of their last time together. There in that very seat, before he'd gone off with his brothers to the fated FURBAR meeting at the Christian Center, the one that landed them all in County. In County, where he'd been shiv'd; an Injury from which he was still recovering. _Christ, that last time feels like it happened a lifetime ago. So much has gone down, everything's changed, we've changed... she's having my kid. Hell, I guess we're engaged…I asked, she said yes._

"Juice? Baby, you look like you're gonna hurl."

He shook his head, "Nah, I'm alright... how are you?"

Vix shrugged. "Ok, little tired. I haven't slept well since you've been gone... what's going on?"

He moved, taking a seat in one of the two chairs on this side of the desk and proceeded to tell her the ugly truths. He'd watched her make slow progress through the reaction spectrum.

"Jesus Christ, Jean!" She scoffed, "Holy Shit! Going after Gemma... that, that's like a rogue chess move. You don't go after the queen, not first... not before taking out all the underlings, the ones that will rise up and ...strike back."

"They've been trying... I'm sure of it. The fire here, that stunt that landed us in County, fire at Cara Cara, Chibs blowing up, shuttin' down _business_, plusall the other shit that's been happening. They've been sowing the seeds of war all along."

"And now it's reapin' time?"

Juice nodded, his jaw clenched. "Soon…we gotta fortify first, protect the family. Gonna need to tap personal stock. I know you and your sister have a small arsenal sitting at her place... we're gonna need it."

"Daddy was paranoid, always said if you got caught off guard you should be able to hole up in any room. Guess it half ways rubbed off on us. We're outfitted for a zombie holocaust. I even got a flash bang…Preacher is one of those survivalist who had some military grade stuff. I helped myself to one before I dumped his ass last time. You guys are welcome to whatever." Vix rattled in reply then scrunched up her nose. "What are we gonna do 'bout The Olds?"

Juice had been asking himself that same damn question. The club house was gonna be tight as it was, no way could he move four senior citizens in. "I ain't got a clue... send 'em on another cruise?"

Vix grunted then sighed, "We'll think of something... I'm gonna call my sister, tell her to meet us at Parker Place."

_**XXX**_

The call to her sister was not going as planned. "What do you mean you can't run home? It's not like I'm asking you to come all the way from fuckin' Oakland, you're IN town today."

Jaci sighed and rolled her eyes. Her morning was not going well and the cryptic call from her little sister was irritating her when it probably should be concerning her. Distractedly she answered, "Vix, I've got a client in twenty minutes. Now I know that Charming isn't a huge thriving metropolis by any means but by the time I leave, get to the house, you tell me what ever all important, can't possibly wait until I get off work news you have and get back to the office, I would be late. So you're just gonna have to drop whatever bomb you got on me now or hold your tongue until tonight."

She should have shut up then but she was on a roll and Vix was getting the brunt of some misplaced office aggression. "I can't be up and leaving work all the freakin' time. Someone has to earn some damn money. At this rate maybe you should looked into becoming a certified nurse assistant or something and not a hairdresser... your salon hasn't been open a full week since the grand opening." Jaci ranted as she held the phone in the crook of her shoulder and used both hands to frantically search her desk for her pen that seemed to have grown legs and scurried away. She finally spotted it and grabbed it. "Ok, spill it or hold it, sister. What's it gonna be?"

Vix took a deep breath, figuring _well hell, you asked for it_, and then blurted, "Gemma was raped by Weston and a couple of his goons."

"WHAT?" Jaci gasped. The prized pen plopped back on her desk, forgotten. Vix had her full attention now. "Oh my god. When? Is she ok?"

"Happened back when she had her wreck…wasn't any wreck, that was her cover story. She's been keeping it a secret until now." Vix replied and relayed what details Juice had told to her.

"Holy shit." Jaci breathed and sat down in her chair. "That's horrible."

"Yeah, you see why I wanted you to come home?"

"Sorry." Jaci shook her head in disbelief but then started thinking over the past few months with any and all interactions with Gemma. There had been a few odd moments. "She's said some weird stuff since then..."

Vix nodded on her end of the line. "Yeah, she warned me away from Weston and them more than once, like adamantly. I noticed her acting weird a few times but she always said she was fine."

"Yeah and we've had so much shit of our own going on we didn't think to press her." Jaci rubbed the space between her eyes and felt selfish and self absorbed. "So what's going to happen now or is that a dumb question?"

"Oh Hell shall reign down for sure." Vix replied. "Just wanted to give you a heads up. Let you know the monsters we're dealing with are even worse than we thought. Hey…speaking of the Hell reigning…the guys need to supply the troops so to speak. Need to raid our arsenal."

"Ok…take anything ya'll need…just leave Dad's .30-.30. Pretty sure the guys don't want a deer rifle anyway but I don't want to lose a family heirloom. Everything else is fair game."

"Cool, thanks." Vix said and looked to Juice, giving him a thumbs-up. "I'll keep ya posted. Be careful, sis."

"You too. If you see Gemma, let her know we're hers…whatever she needs."

"Will do…see ya." Vix replied and ended the call.

Juice looked at her and raised his eyebrows. "That was a pretty harsh way to…"

Vix shrugged. "She told me to just tell her so I did. Said to take whatever we need outta Parker Place. Let's go."

_**XXX**_

_I'm a liar…so it seems  
__My desire could justify anything  
__So is there nothing that lies in between  
__This cold silence and a scream?  
__~Listen, Toad the Wet Sprocket_

Tig leaned back on his ass and pressed his back against the tub. With his knees pulled up and his head in his hands, he sucked in a series of deep breaths. His stomach was in knots partially due to normal side effects from tripping on 'shrooms the night before but more due to the fact that he'd just tried to fuck his best friend's wife. "What the fuck? What the fuck?" He hissed as he smacked himself in the head with the heel of his palm.

Going to Gemma's had been a horrible idea. He had left the clubhouse after hearing the rape news and was completely spun out, half hung over from the drugs still in his system, half drunk from the whiskey he had slammed down at the clubhouse before heading out to gather Clay's stash of guns. On the drive over, he had been thinking how his life couldn't get any worse…his club was in shambles, he was alone after pushing Jaci away for the last time and he had spent the prior night in a field apologizing to an Indian doll that kept morphing faces from Donna to Jaci. But life _could _get worse. Knowing what had happened to Gemma at the hands of LOAN had broken something in him. He couldn't even imagine how lost and alone and hurt she had been feeling for all these months, keeping that horrible secret to herself.

Gemma had looked so fragile that morning and he hated that. She was NOT fragile, she was a Class A ball buster and he was furious that someone had ripped that fire out of her. He had just wanted to help her, to _fix _her, to set her back to right. Hell, he had wanted to set himself back to right. Granted, he probably could have helped her just by _talking to her_ but as always his emotions took a sexual route. They had gotten so wrapped got up in each other's pain that before either one of them knew what was going on, faces were slamming together and he was pushing her up against the wall in the hallway. Thank God they had stopped before it had gone too far.

But now, sitting in his dingy bathroom floor, he sure as shit didn't feel _fixed. _No, his pain lied with other women. He sat and thought for a long moment about how get that burden lifted off his back once and for all. It would be a brutal and messy process but it was one he had to do…_now_. He stood up on shaky legs and rinsed his mouth out with water at the sink. After splashing water on his face a few times he finally left his house and fired up his bike.

_**XXX**_

Jaci's client had been a real pain in the ass; guy was drowning in debt but hadn't wanted to compromise on anything. She had finally lost her patience and told the guy 'fine, do it your way and see what happens.' The client had been stunned, frowning then not so politely reminding her that she was supposed to _help_ him which allowed her to remind him that help wasn't _easy_. Help was not a finger snap instant solution to all problems…sometimes help was painful and full of sacrifice. Finally after a very blunt chat, he had seen the light and made some self-sacrificing concessions.

She stared at the closed door of her office after the guy had left trying to remind herself that she did in fact love her job. She was short on patience for trivial things after hearing about Gemma this morning from Vix. It was hard to grasp something so _horrible_,so _out of bounds _happening. And the fact that Gemma had dealt with the horror by herself for so long made Jaci sick to her stomach. No one should have to walk that path of trauma and grief alone.

_You may be right…I may be crazy…_ Jaci's head jerked around at the sound of her cell phone ringing. She frowned thinking that surely her cell must be having a malfunction of sorts, no way was HE calling her. She picked up the phone and stared it but when she saw the name _Kevin _displayed, her alias for Tig, she knew it wasn't a mistake. Instead of answering, she hit the _ignore_ button, ending the call. The last thing she had time for this morning was his bullshit. Two minutes later the Billy Joel song fired up again, Tig wasn't giving up.

"I have NOTHING to say to you." Jaci breathed tiredly into the phone.

"I need to talk to you." Tig replied in a quiet tone.

"If it's about Gemma, I already know."

His heart stopped and he tried to get her to clarify, thinking he was busted somehow for his sickening indiscretions of the morning. "Gemma?"

"I know what happened to her, Vix called me."

"Oh." Tig replied and swallowed hard with relief that his secret was still safe. That was one he and Gemma would hopefully be taking to the grave. "It's not about that."

"Well in that case, we've said more than enough to each other lately. We're done with all that. Fuck you, goodbye." She spat and started to pull the phone away from her ear.

"Jaci, _please_."

She froze upon hearing _please, _that wasn't a word that readily came out of Tig's mouth. She held the phone and stopped breathing. A moment of silence passed before he spoke. "You still there?" She grunted the slightest bit and he began to plead his case. "Look…I just…I need to talk to you. Just come outside for a couple of minutes then I'll leave you alone. Swear to God."

"Outside? Are you in the parking lot? We are NOT doing this here!"

His patience was wearing thin. "Yeah, we are. Either come out here and talk to me or I'm coming inside. You've got five minutes." He waited a half beat then added, "I don't wanna make a scene, Jaci. Don't wanna put you through anymore…_whateve_r, ok? Just come talk to me."

She listened to his plea/demand and decided he sounded _off_ in a big way and that honestly scared her a little. She argued with herself in her head for a moment on what to do but she didn't doubt for a second that he would come barging into her office if she declined to see him voluntarily.

"Ok, _just stay outside_…I'll be right there." She ended the call and grabbed her purse, telling the office secretary she was heading to an early lunch.

_**XXX**_

In the parking lot, Jaci spotted Tig standing at the rear of her car. She kept her eyes locked on him as she walked over. "Well? Talk."

He shook his head and nodded toward her car. "Inside."

"Fuck that." She spat back. On the walk from her office she had conjured up every long forgotten news story about some poor girl's crazy ex storming an office building and killing her and a few innocent co-workers. Now her certifiably unstable ex was wanting to 'talk' out of the blue and demanding that she be isolated in her car. She suddenly wished she had text Vix to let her know what was going on…just in case she was about to become a statistic and the lead story for the 11 o'clock news. "I'm not getting in the car with you."

Tig rubbed at his right temple like his head hurt. "Jaci...come on, this shit's between you and me." It was only then he really took a close look at her and registered the emotion on her face. She was pissed but there was fear there too…she was scared of him. His heart dropped as he realized just how broken they had become. "Jesus…you think…I'm not gonna touch you." He held his hands up in earnest. She eyed for a long moment before deciding to believe him and finally popping the locks on her Mustang. She hoped she wasn't a complete sucker as they took their seats and shut the doors.

He stared out her front busted windshield and his eyes landed on the dents in her hood and the cracked side mirror that he had caused during his roadside tantrum. _No wonder she's scared of me. _He cleared his throat and nodded toward the damage. "I'll pay to get that shit fixed." She growled that she didn't want his money and he smiled sadly. God, she really did hate him but he supposed that was ok. He was just going to take them to rock bottom in a minute anyway, probably better that they didn't have far to fall.

Jaci glanced over at her ex and took in his appearance. He looked like shit, his color was ashy and his eyes were red rimmed. She noticed that he couldn't keep his hands still, they fluttered from resting on his legs to balling up in fists to running through his hair; he was in a word…_twitchy_. "Are you high or drunk?"

"Little of both." He answered honestly. "Did some 'shrooms last night, fuckin' bad trip. Been drinking this morning to calm down but it's just fucked everything up."

"Nice." She retorted, sarcasm and distain thick in her voice. She had never known him to do anything more than pot when she was with him. Maybe life without her sucked though and he needed something harder. _Wow, THAT'S the man I loved? He's a fuckin' loser and I'm an idiot. _

It was then her eyes landed on the bruise midway down the side of his throat. Her stomach dropped involuntarily with hurt as she realized the bruise was actually a hickey. She guessed she really couldn't complain, he was single and free to fuck anyone he wanted, it just hurt to actually see the evidence of it. "Nice hickey." After he didn't offer an explanation, she raised her eyebrows and stared at him. "So what's so goddamn important?"

He was a wreck in the seat next to her. On the drive from his house, he had planned out exactly what to say but seeing her had made him forget it all. Being next to her just brought all the pain and hurt front and center and he felt like he was smothering. He shook his head violently for a second, trying to focus but it was a lost cause. He decided just to ramble and hoped it made sense. "Ok, …ah, goddamnit. I had everything planned out but now you're sitting here scared of me…that's so fucked up. Fuckin' hate that." He stopped abruptly and tried to focus, even pushing the palms of his hands against his eyes as he took in a deep breath.

Jaci watched him with sudden worry; she had rarely seen Tig this emotional. Sure, she had seen him furious but never _upset _like this. The anger she felt toward him began easing down as curiosity and concern rose in its place. Something was very wrong.

"I'm at the end of my rope here, Jaci. I can't do this shit anymore." He blurted and glanced at her for a second then back down to focus on the gearshift knob. "I thought I could handle it but I can't do it, just can't." He shook his head slowly. "Before you came along, I could just push stuff down, fuckin' bury it. I didn't feel shit…no remorse about nothing, you know? I was fuckin' _hard._"He hit his chest with his fist to emphasize his point. "Nothing got in, I didn't THINK, I didn't FEEL. Then you went and ripped a big fuckin' hole in me so now this shit…it's fuckin' awful. It's eatin' me alive."

His rambling wasn't making any sense. "Tig, what are you..."

He didn't acknowledge her interruption, just kept on rambling. "But it's ok, you know? I mean…something this horrible, I SHOULD feel it. Every fuckin' second of every day, I should feel it. I deserve that." He nodded his head, agreeing with himself. "But I shouldn't drown you in lies. You deserve better than that, after all the shit we've been through. I'm tired of lying…do so damn much of it lately, I can't keep shit straight. I don't want to do it anymore."

Concern switched to near panic as he kept talking, especially when she noticed that he had tears welled up in his eyes. Her heart pounded in her chest as she tried to figure out what had gone so wrong to bring Tig to rock bottom like this. Surely this wasn't the result of him finally seeing the light because a woman had been hurt and now he realized how much he cared. _When's the last time you've seen him upset? Think about it…when has he ever been the least bit spun out? _But she didn't have to think very hard, she _knew_, had known for months, but had just lied to herself, made excuses, had drank the bullshit Kool-Aid that had been served after it had all happened. The last time he had been upset was right after Donna had been killed.

Jaci's chest heaved with deep breaths as she looked at him. "Tig…what did you do?"

He locked eyes with her, looking so _lost _so _sad _so_ sorry_. "I never meant to hurt you. You gotta know that. I pushed you away to keep you away from this shit but then the salon fire happened and I thought we could make it work. I mean, I know I fucked shit up but I wanted it to all work." His voice cracked slightly and he clenched his jaw. "I fucked up, Jaci. I fucked up really bad."

She felt tears welling up in her own eyes and gritted her teeth as she asked him again, "What did you _do_?"

"I killed her…I killed Donna." He breathed and watched her face fall as the truth hit her. She slumped back against her seat and swallowed hard. She kept looking at him and then back at her steering wheel, shaking her head. As soon as he confessed he wished he hadn't. There was more to it than the words he had just blurted and he hated himself for the sick sort of self-preservation that kicked in. He started to try and explain. "It was an accident. Stahl…she set up Opie as a rat. That shit you found in his credit report was just the tip of it. There were federal money transfers in his accounts; I found wire taps in his truck, in his phone."

Jaci felt like she was having a stroke. Her brow creased sharply and her mouth started to form the word 'what' but neither action completed, it was like her brain just short circuited. Instead she leaned forward and rested her face in her hands against the steering wheel as Tig came completely clean about his actions. Tears started to stream down her face as she thought about Donna, that beautiful mother being ripped away from her kids, from her husband and the fact that she had loved the man that had pulled the trigger.

"It had to happen. I didn't know what all he'd told them, how long it had be going on…could of brought the whole club down."

She noticed he was being very careful to say _I_, but she knew there had to be more people behind it all. You didn't just decide to pop a brother on your own, it was a group decision…or at least a _power _decision. There was a WE and she was pretty sure the other player was Clay, there was no way any of the other guys would have voted yes. She remembered Tig telling her all those months ago that Op had cleared everything up, that everything was fine. That was probably the story the other Sons had heard too.

Tig watched her cry silently and finished the last part of his confession. "The worst fuckin' part of it was that I didn't _want _to do it…not when it came time. I watched him with his kids and with everybody at Abel's party and I thought I could be wrong. But there was all this shit against him…I couldn't risk it…I had to PROTECT. He could have brought us all down…and that might have brought you down too, I couldn't let that happen."

The mention of Abel undid Jaci. She slammed her fist into the steering wheel as she thought about how her whole life in Charming was a fake, a sham. She had taken a huge risk coming to California, getting involved with this charter of the Sons. But she had done it because she thought family was first, that it was all worth it. She fallen in love with a fuckin' monster, thinking he had enough good in him to be saved, that he was worth it but now look where it had gotten her.

Watching her tears fall so quietly was killing him. Tig reached out with a shaky hand and touched her shoulder, only to have her knock his hand away violently. "DON'T!" She seethed.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry." Tig said quietly and gave her a long moment before reaching for her again. She shrugged him off again but this time she didn't let go of his hand. In fact, she squeezed the hell out of it. She needed an anchor and his hand was the closest thing, even though it was the cause of all her pain at the moment. It had been a long night and an even longer, harder morning for him and he was tapped out, nearing a numb mode very quickly. He sat stunned and staring at their intertwined hands as she finished crying. He blinked when Jaci finally let go of his hand.

Her sadness clicked off and gave way to a new set of emotions. Suddenly the car was too small a space, she couldn't breathe, couldn't think, she was overwhelmed and needed out. She looked nervously from side to side. "I can't…I can't do this."

Just as she made a move toward the driver side door, Tig hit the button on his passenger side door, locking her inside. He knew it was a lot to take in but he couldn't have her running off all crazy emotional in the parking, in her office. "No no no…just stay put for a minute."

She glared at him as sadness gave way to anger in a flash. "Really? You're locking in my own car?"

He just stared at her, sort of pleadingly, "You can't tell anybody."

"Who the fuck would I tell, Tig? This isn't something you brag about, like hey my boyfriend's got a big dick. You think I'm gonna tell anybody that I was involved with a guy that gunned down a woman cause a Fed played his ass?"

Tig took the barrage without a word in return; at least her ranting kept her inside the car. She sucked in deep breaths as she fought hard to find any level of calmness but her mind kept racing. _What else has he done? What other horrible shit has he been hiding this whole time? _And then another victim suddenly came to mind, another bullshit story that didn't make any sense if you thought about it for too long. "What about Jenkins? He's not just missing is he?"

"No." He didn't even think about lying.

"So that was you too? What'd you do?"

Tig avoided eye contact and justified the act, "He was down the street from your house, watching you, us, your family. I wasn't going to let him hurt you again."

"Jesus." She replied. "Is that your answer for everything? You hit a snag you just pop somebody?" She sat back in her seat and wiped her eyes with her hands. She wanted to scream at him, hit him but knew nothing would really make her feel better, nothing would fix their pain. Her voice was shaky when she finally ventured words, "Why…why tell me now? We hate each other, why tell me NOW? I mean, what do you want? You want me to fix it for you? Too fuckin' bad…I can't. I've tried to fix you for a goddamn year and I can't and …"

"I just…I wanted to come clean with you. This got between us, ruined me…ruined us." Tig averted his eyes from hers. "There's no fixing this…it is what it is."

She blew out a breath and nodded her head along numbly with his statement. They were most definitely ruined. She fought to get her head around everything that had happened. Twenty minutes earlier, she had been trying to hate Tig, had been working on becoming completely happy to never see or speak to him again. But now suddenly, instead of the violent angry monster she had seen the last two weeks, there was this damaged shell of Tig sitting next to her. A very spun out, very remorseful, very human individual. Days ago she had loved him, where was all that supposed to go? The truth about Donna had rocked her to her core and she wasn't sure about hardly anything at the moment.

"What do I do with this? Now what?"

"There isn't a _now what._" Tig shook his head and answered sadly, "I don't think you'll have to do anything with it, Jaci. I just wanted you to know. It explained shit." Satisfied that she was calm, he shifted in his seat, unlocked the doors and put his hand on the door handle to leave.

The desperation in his voice flipped a switch in her head and she realized that the confession had been about more than just telling the truth, it had been a goddamn goodbye. "You're lying right now. There IS a _now wha_t…you're going to tell him, aren't you? You're going to tell Opie the truth." She saw him drop his eyes and before he could start to squirm she cut him off, "Don't start lying to me again, Tig. You're gonna tell him."

He finally nodded and panic bloomed involuntarily in her gut. She shook her head at his foolish redemption path. "He'll kill you."

"I can't keep going like this, Jaci. I'll take whatever I got coming to me. I just didn't want you thinking it was an accident if something happened to me. I wanted you to know I deserved it."

"You've got a goddamn bullet coming to you! If not by Op, then by Clay." She watched him frown at the mention of the SAMCRO President. "Don't think for a second, I believe this shit was all your idea. If by some goddamn miracle Op doesn't kill you, Clay will, you know that, right? Ratting on yourself is ratting on him."

As she spewed too much logic, Tig suddenly regretted his confession. He realized that he messed up; it would have been easier if she _had _thought everything was an accident. What the point of causing her all this pain if he was just going to die? He should have left her in the dark. _Stupid fucking idiot. _He shook his head in frustration with himself for messing up again then unlocked his door, pushed it open and climbed out.

"Tig, wait!" Jaci called out. He stopped and finally bent down. The pair locked eyes. She couldn't think of anything to say, by this point she was just as spun out as he was. It seemed wrong to want to protect him after what he had done but it seemed even worse to stand by and let him get hurt. Or was that what he deserved? She didn't know.

He saw the hurt and confusion in her eyes. At least she was confused, that meant there might be a tiny shred of love for him left. He drank her in her dark hair and her fierce green eyes and a shockwave of memories flooded over him. They had had a good run, it could have been a lot better but there had been some good shit between them at times and that was something. A ghost of a smile crossed his face and he nodded at her. "Take care of yourself, Jaci." He said quietly and shut the door.

She blinked tears away as she listened to him fire up his bike and roar out of the lot. As he rode to TM, he could admit a tiny part of him had wished she had had some brilliant plan to fix everything for him but he knew deep down that impossible. The best he could do was to get the weight off his shoulders once and for all and live or die with the consequences.

_**XXX**_

Jaci had spent the rest of her 'lunch hour' trying to get a grip on the Donna confession and what the fallout might be. She had made it through the rest of her work day by some miracle of automatic functioning. Now she sat at home alone. Lord knew if she ended up having a nervous breakdown, she didn't need an audience. The silence was brutal and teasing, either Op had taken the truth entirely differently than she had feared or the Club was still trying to cover up the horrible outcome.

Her phone had finally rang at seven thirty. Upon seeing Tara's caller id, she cringed, fearing the worst. She could just picture her friend calling from the ER at St. Thomas while she looked over Tig's dead body. But instead Tara had told her two things, prefaced with the warning that the doctor wasn't sure Jaci would care about either item. First thing was that Kipp's manhood implant had indeed been ill-fated. He had a nasty infection and was now at the hospital having the stupid thing removed. And secondly, Tig had gotten in a fight at the garage, she hadn't known the details, figured he had ran his mouth to one of the guys about something and they had had enough. His face had been busted up pretty bad. She had seen the damage first hand and had cleaned him up.

Jaci thanked her for the info and hung up the phone. She wandered down the hallway to her bedroom in a bit of a daze, utterly confused by Opie's actions. If Tig had confessed, was a beat down all he had coming for punishment? Was Opie lying to Tig, assuring him the same way Clay and Tig had done to him? _Everything's fine, just relax_…then the death blow would come later? Who all had seen the fight? Was it even Opie that had hit him?

She groaned as the endless questions started swirling in her head. Staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, she went round and round on the topic of Donna's death for the millionth time that day…how it had happened, why it had happened and the only certainty she had come to was the fact that there was more than enough blame to go around for the tragedy. Sure the bulk of the guilt lay at the feet of Clay and Tig for making a shitty decision behind everyone's backs but she couldn't help thinking she had done more than just leaked info about Op's finances.

_You went and ripped a big fuckin' hole in me_. Tig's words kept swimming to the forefront of her mind. He had accused her of making him _feel_ where before her, he had been cold. Under normal circumstances, in a _normal _relationship those words would be a compliment. But as it was, his emotional shifts were a liability. They had made him weak…or maybe that was the wrong word. He wasn't weak but he wasn't strong _enough_. She had been with him long enough to make him start re-thinking his actions, his way of being in day to day life, but they hadn't been solid enough, long enough to make any permanent changes.

She got the sick feeling if the Op situation had occurred early on in their relationship, Op would be a dead man. Tig would have never hesitated, would have pulled up next to him in the car and shouted something before shooting him in the face. Or if the hit had happened later in their relationship, Tig would have changed his mind completely about taking Op out, might have even told Clay they needed to wait. But as it was, the test came right in the middle of things with them. Tig had hesitated, had stopped and thought…which was a good thing…but not enough to prevent any trouble. He and his conscience had flinched just enough to fuck things up.

Her mind flashed to her Uncle BB…he had always had a lot of rules for his girls when he came to being around the club but perhaps the most important one was the seemingly most simple…_Don't fuck anything up_. Tears started to fall from her eyes as she realized she had fucked something up big time…she had fucked up Tig. She had tried to _fix him_, to pull that good she knew he had in him to the forefront but had only succeeded in making a huge mess of things, including his head.

All the looks from people, the little words of caution from people…they had known what they were talking about. There was no happy ending, there was no finishing what you started, neither one of them were going to leave that relationship BETTER than they had started it. There had just been a lot of emotion that left them both more screwed up than they had been before the day they met each other.

_Don't fuck anything up. _So much for that idea, they were both broken now with no fix in sight. She started to cry harder, sobbing before she knew what was happening. She sunk to the bathroom floor and didn't even try to fight the breakdown. She cried for Donna, for Op and his kids, for herself, for Tig, for every kiss and touch between them, for every harsh word, for every lie. After that wave had crashed and started to recede, another rounds of sobs hit and she cried for her sisters, for Chibs and Juice being hurt and for Gemma and the horrible attack she had suffered and kept quiet for so long. She cried for the Club that was turning out to be a sham and for the whole damn God forsaken town and knew she hated and loved them both.

_**XXX**_

That night at the clubhouse, Opie stared at the Reaper carved into the table after listening to Clay make assurances they all wanted to make amends, to get passed what had happened to Donna. What had _happened_…that wasn't the right way to say it, what had _been done_ to Donna was more like it. He glanced at his brothers, even the ones he now hated. "I wanna keep this shit quiet; doesn't do the rest of the club or my family any good to know the truth."

Everyone around the table nodded solemnly except for Tig, who sat perfectly still but said quietly, "There's one more." Clay frowned at him. He swallowed hard. "There's one more…that knows. I told Jaci before I came to Op."

A muttering of disbelief snaked around the room. An incredulous look over took Clay's face. "You told your ex goddamn girlfriend…who HATES you?"

"Why would you…" Op started to ask.

"Stahl was going to tell her." Tig lied. He had told Jaci the truth because he figured as soon as he told Opie, he'd be dead. He was actually still sort of stunned to be alive and sitting at the Chapel table. "Stahl knew what we did, how she made Op look. When we were in County lockup, she said she was going to tell Jaci. It was just a matter of time before she dropped the bomb. I didn't want her hearing it from someone else and then asking around about it."

Clay ran his hand over his mouth. "She HAS to keep her mouth shut."

Jax glared at both of them, "Or what? What's she gonna do, tell Op?" The betrayed VP shook his head in anger and stared at Tig. "Fuckin' asshole, putting that on her. Like she needed to carry that shit around on her conscious."

"Dick move." Bobby muttered.

"How'd she take it?" Jax asked with concern after a long moment. He knew his sister in law wasn't stupid about the goings on in the Club, sometimes violent things happened but her moral compass would be just as outraged as he had been about the whole horrible thing.

"Bad…hates me." Tig replied. "She'll stay quiet though…she's club born and bred. She understands shit."

Op frowned. "She's gotta come in for lockdown, no matter how much she hates you. Can't have her in the wind with Zobelle and those shitheads out there. Someone needs to talk to her."

"Absolutely." Tig replied. The thought of Jaci being hurt like Gemma had been made his hands curl into fists on the tabletop.

Clay pointed a finger at Tig. "Not you, asshole…you've done enough."

"I'll talk to her, first thing in the morning." Bobby volunteered and got an approving nod from Jax.

_**XXX**_

Vix dropped onto the sofa next to Juice and curled her legs up under her, sighed and informed "Well, I just saw Ms. Sadie and Ms. Millie off to the trip they conveniently _won_ to the Weekender Spa. We'll fanagle the cost baby, keeping The Olds safe is important. It'd be just like those scumbags to pick on the old folks next."

Juice rubbed his hands down his face. "Yeah I know. I talked to Henry, he and Gram have been meaning to go see his family, tell them the wedding news. Apparently, his daughter Gwen is a hot mess... won't take the news to well."

Vix smiled, "_H__ot mess_, hmm?"

He sighed and pitched forward, elbows resting on his knees, looking back over his shoulder at her. "Yeah, I know, Vix-speak is starting to seep into my everyday lingo. Trust me, the guys are noticing."

"Ok, so we've squared them away." She announced with a smile then nodded, licked her lips and eyed him. "Don't even _think_ you're shipping me off somewhere. Oh no, I ain't leaving, you know me better than anybody. I'm a Parker. I was raised to always be ready to nail the flag to the fuckin' mast and go down with the goddamn ship!"

Juice sat staring at her then he shook his head, blushing and chuckled. "I'm sorry... I was seriously waiting for you to jump up onto the coffee table, raise your fist in the air and start shouting _**'We've Not Yet Begun To Fight!**_**!" **

Vix glared at him but then rolled her eyes and added her laughter to his. "Yeah, well when that happens be sure to record it. We'll get a million hits on YouTube."

She suddenly sobered and took a shaky inhale. "I'm scared shitless, Jean." Blowing out a breath she continued, "Yesterday, hell, _this morning_, I was deep in my little bubble of happiness. Now, our world is being Fed-ex'd to Hell in a hand cart - murder, malice, lying, cheating, stealing... now, gang rape! Jesus Christ!"

Tears spilt over, running down her cheeks. "Who in their right minds would want to bring a baby into that shit storm? It practically constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. How am I supposed to do this? I have a goddamned throbbing headache and with the shit that happened with Abel... I'm scared to death to down two Aleve. I'm going through nicotine withdraw and if there was ever a call for a shot of Jack D... "

"Woah, woah, woah, woah! Listen to me." He turned towards her, practically grabbed her by the shoulders, but then loosened his grip, sliding his hands up and cupping her neck. "You're NOT your sister. you're NOT your _mother_. There is a huge fuckin' difference between shooting crank and poppin' an aspirin. As for the world, it's been fucked for generations. Just calm down, let's evoke a little tunnel vision, kay? Let's focus on getting us - me and you through this mess. Do what we can to see everyone we care about clear of it too."

She nodded as much as his hold on her allowed. He swallowed around the emotions threatening to clog closed his throat, "There is no one else on this planet that I trust more to see that kid through whatever life tosses at it, than you." Juice chuckled, because if he didn't he was cry like a goddamn baby, _Fierce mother_, will get a whole new definition."

Vix blinked, cleared her throat and swallowed hard. "I think you have more faith in me than anyone I've ever known. But you're right. I would walk into Hell for my family."

He nodded, "That's my girl." Leaning in he kissed her lips then pulled away and stood up, "Let's go."

"To?"

"I'm gonna get you two Aleve, a shot of Jack, a cigarette... then I'm gonna fuck you like I'm never gonna see you again."

_**XXX**_

Once the tears had dried and Jaci had composed herself, she felt the overwhelming need to talk to the one person that would understand all the shit in her head at the moment…BB. It wasn't too late at night for the call to scare him, he'd probably be home by now, maybe just finishing up with supper. She found her cellphone and sat down Indian style on her bed and dialed her uncle. He answered on the fourth ring with an enthusiastic, "Hey there, J-bird."

"Hey." She smiled sadly. He seemed to be in a good mood and here she was about to mess it up. "How are things?"

He recognized the sadness in her voice instantly. That was a gift he had acquired over the years of raising the girls, he could judge their moods in two seconds flat just by hearing a word or catching a look. Jaci was worried about something. "Well, things are good in my neck of the woods…but you only seem to call me these days if something's wrong, so what is it this time?"

His observation was sad but true and she was honestly sorry for it, knew she should call him and Roxy more often without any ulterior motives. "Sorry….I need some advice."

Sighing he stood up and stretched his back. He had been tinkering on an old car for a friend out in the garage but the mechanic-ing could wait. After he grabbed a fresh beer from the ancient fridge and took a swing he finally replied, "Let's hear it."

"Well…we might need to use the pre-paids." She cautioned and heard him mumble _shit _on the other line but he obliged and a few minutes later, they were on secure lines.

She gave him a rundown of the shit-storm that had been brewing in Charming up till that morning. She didn't want him hearing about any of it through the MC grapevine so she spilled the beans about Chibs being hurt, the guys landing in jail, Juice being shanked and how Spawn had been killed and how Vix had went toe to toe with a few guys that had probably later killed Luann.

"Jesus Christ. So that's white surpremistists, Nords, true IRA, scumbag porn producers…am I forgettin' anybody?" BB asked.

"Well, you can probably toss in the regulars…Mayans and Niners and there's some Chinese coming into play now but I don't really know about it all."

BB muttered another curse under his breath and closed his eyes. "Why didn't you call sooner?"

"Well…everything's happened so fast and all…but there's really nothing you guys can do about any of it." Jaci replied, then paused for a long moment, working her way up the through the levels of awful reveals. "There's more though, BB." She gave him a very condensed version of what she had learned about Gemma's attack and that it was the same crew that had burnt Vix's salon to the ground.

He took a long moment to let the last bit of shocking news set in. He shook his head sharply to prevent himself from even putting his wife and girls in Gemma's shoes, knowing he'd go crazy if something like that had happened to any of them. "So what's the play on that?"

"I figure revenge is coming swift and hard, hopefully be over in a few days."

"Well, you know what I'm gonna say here, J. Times like this you keep your head down, your mouth shut and do what's needed of ya."

"Yeah." Jaci replied lamely, knowing she was still holding out on a full reveal to her uncle.

"All that's horrible shit but you guys will make it through. The Club will make that shit right, no doubt about it." BB paused for a moment then added, "You know I ain't all that religious…but God gave you strong shoulders for a reason, Jaci. People need to lean on you now and you're better at carrying weight than others, we both know that. You just keep on doing what you do."

"Yes sir."

"AND…anybody outside that MC comes at you and yours, you take em out, J. Watch everybody's back, don't let anybody else get hurt if you can stop it. I know Vix's is more of the physical one but you're no dainty flower. There's a time for talking and a time for...well you know. Don't sound like no amount of talking is gonna fix shit out there."

"So much is happening out here…I swear it feels like we're burying ourselves."

"And no one has the good goddamn sense to stop diggin'?" BB retorted but listened again to the tone of her voice. "What're you NOT tellin' me? You haven't mentioned Tig in this whole little convo. Ya'll break up again or something?"

"Yeah, hell probably a few times since you last heard."

"He cheat on you?"

"I wish...I know how to deal with that." Jaci replied and took a deep breath, here came the hard part. "The reason I called, the advice I really need…I know something I shouldn't know, BB. And it's really bad, I mean, I can't tell you what it is…it's that kind of bad."

BB felt his heart skip a beat and knew his girl was in deep shit. He nodded along even though she couldn't see him. Another father would have yelled and screamed until she had cracked with the truth but he knew if Jaci was willing to hide something from him and tell him she was hiding it, it was for the better of him, her and the club. He was oddly proud of her for keeping quiet but at the same time pissed off and worried for her. But he'd go to Hell and back before he'd break her trust in him.

"Ok…let's dance around it and see where we get. It's bad and it has to do with Tig?" He heard her very quiet reply of _yes sir_ and kept up his questions until he knew enough to be dangerous. Putting all the pieces together, BB surmised that Tig had told her something club related that she had no business knowing and now she was scared. The possibilities of what was really going on were damn limitless and it frustrated the hell out of BB. "Goddamnit…you never should have started shit up with Trager."

"I know. We fucked each other up more than we ever helped. I broke your Golden Rule."

"Yeah…well…you got a big heart…its bound to fuck you over a time or two in your life, baby girl. Who all knows that you know this thing?"

"I'm not sure, it might just be him." Jaci sighed heavily. "BB, I don't think I wanna be out here anymore."

"You feelin' crosshairs on your back over this, Jaci? If you think for a second that…"

"No no no. Nothing like that." She stammered.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I just…I don't want to be around this place anymore. I can't stay out here."

"This thing you know…it have anything to do with the Gemma situation?"

"No."

"Then you tend to your responsibilities for now. Look after your sister and Abel…look after Gemma. They'll need you. With that other shit…it sounds like you're neck deep in quicksand. What do you do in quicksand, J?"

She thought back over all years of useless facts and advice she had amassed from him and the other guys in Bama. "Stay still."

BB agreed, "Exactly...stay still, stay calm, trudge through real careful and you'll find a way out. Move too fast and you'll get buried. You get what I'm saying?" He asked very pointedly, hoping she was listening to what all he _wasn't_ saying. "That's my official club friendly advice."

"Yes sir." Jaci replied and suddenly she did understand perfectly. Until she knew how she played into the whole Donna drama in relation to the club, things needed to appear business as usual. Anything sudden moves on her part would just spark a panic in Tig and Lord knew they had all had enough panic lately. She'd see that Zobelle and his crew got what was coming their way, see Gemma through anything she might need, watch out for Vix and then she'd figure out an exit plan.

BB took a long swing from the beer bottle that was now warm in his hand. "But here's my official Daddy advice… you feel the SLIGHTEST bit of heat over that shit you know, anyone looks at you cross eyed over that shit…you bail. You hear me, J? Don't tell anybody…just hit the road and call me."

_To be continued…._

_Stayed tuned for our version of LOCKDOWN. And there will be Kozik…oh yes, there will be Kozik!_


	29. Chapter 29- Poll

Hello, all…longtime no see. Sorry this isn't a real chapter update. It's more of a poll. In the year since the last update, a lot has changed. There have been babies, sickness, job changes…you know, LIFE. Very sorry that we never wrapped up Season 2 and now we stand at a crossroads: do we let it all die or come up with a way to finish this journey? I thought about never writing again, just putting it away for good but fic thoughts dance in my head all the time and I feel like I owe you faithful readers closure. I've also found that I actually MISS writing. It became a very fulfilling hobby almost by accident.

The problem is that I don't have time to write like I used to and unfortunately, Reapergirl has her plate full too. Also, she admittedly has lost that loving feeling so to speak when it comes to Sons of Anarchy so if I pick up the pen again, this will probably be a solo project. That means probably no more 30 page chapters, possibly some jumps in time, and more Jaci/Tig, less Vix/Juice. We had Season 2 mapped but were going to break with the show after Season 3 and push towards the futures we had in mind for our girls. I would do my absolute best to do these characters we've created justice but it would be a slightly different world in ole ParkerLand.

So my question is to you Faithful Reader, in the great words of The Clash; do I stay or do I go?


	30. Lockdown

**Walk Away from the Son****  
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SoA  
****LOCKDOWN**

**By BG (with some last little bits of Reapergirl)**

_Note: This chapter's been WAY too long coming and I am very sorry for that. My aim was to have it completed 18 months ago! As I said in my last post, life has changed in big ways for both myself and Reapergirl and writing has been put on the back burner. But now here we are and things are going to be a little different. Reapergirl has officially bowed out as my writing partner. Her love for Juice died in Season 4 and could never be resurrected no matter how hard she tried. Couple that hurdle with some medical issues and she had to step aside. I thank her deeply for the hundreds of pages, laughs and tears we have created and shared and wish her well!_

_I am 1000% commitment to finishing Season 2 and hopefully will have the final chapter up in a few weeks. Most of Jaci's bits are complete but I have to go back and try to bring the notes on Vix to life. Then I need to figure out how best to continue the Parker saga, what time jumps to make, what bits of the real show to include and just what to do with Vix now that I will be fully responsible for her! __ We've had futures sketched out for the girls for a very long time and I really want you guys to get to enjoy all of that!_

_I just want to thank everyone that commented on the Stay or Go Poll. Your comments and encouragements were very much appreciated and I will do my best to keep you all as happy readers! Please over look any typos or sneaky grammatical errors. I am my own beta and honestly I got tired of reading these 22 pages over and over!_

_~BG_

**XXX**

_It's times like these you learn to live again  
It's times like these you give and give again  
It's times like these you learn to love again  
It's times like these time and time again_

_~Times Like These, Foo Fighters_

_(try the acoustic version, very fitting)_

Bobby knocked on Jaci's front door at 7am. Normally she would have been at work already but she was running late from hitting the snooze button one too many times that morning. Not that she was actually getting any zzz's, she had lain awake all night, tossing and turning, thinking about the harsh truth Tig had told her about Donna's murder. She was still in her sleep uniform of lounge pants and tank top when she answered the door cautiously.

"Bobby? What're you doing here?"

"Mornin' sunshine." He replied with a weak smile. "Need to talk to ya, J." She frowned but let him inside, shut the door behind them and walked into the living room. Turning, she faced him, giving him all her attention. He scratched at his beard and winced slightly. "Look, I'm just going to cut right to the chase here…I know what Tig told you yesterday…about Donna."

Silence hung in the air for a long moment as she stared at him with a blank face. He was secretly proud that she held a poker face and didn't give anything away immediately. She was waiting for him to prove his knowledge with something more than a vague statement.

He cleared his throat. "I was there…when he told Op he was the one that shot her, not the Niners or the Mayans or whoever it was blamed it on."

"What'd Op do?"

"Beat the shit out of him then went after Stahl. He didn't hurt her though."

Jaci only gave a slight nod, she was too numb to feel relief that Tig's life had been spared, probably would have felt guilty for that sentiment anyway. Bobby gave her a soft look. "We're trying to contain this shit…keep it to only the few people that know. I don't have to tell you what news like this could do to a charter."

"Tig told you that he told _me_?" Jaci asked with concern rising in her voice. "Who else knows about me?"

"Op, Jax, Piney….and Clay."

"Shit, way to put a target on my back, asshole." Jaci mumbled as if Tig was standing in the room and crossed her arms.

Bobby shrugged. "Actually, he might have taken it off your back. Since more people know about you than just Clay, nothing can happen to you without looking suspicious. But of course…you have to…" He winced, hating the next words that were going to come out of his mouth because they were insulting. "We need you to keep your mouth shut…to anyone and everyone…forever."

She stared hard at her so called friend. "Or what? Is there a threat at the end of that little request?"

"No, goddamnit, I'm not here to threaten you, Jaci. Hell, I know I don't even have to say anything. You of all people know how important this is, but you know… for formality's sake."

She sighed and sat down on the sofa. "Bobby…the truth about Donna is the LAST thing I ever want to talk about. I want to forget I even know it. Trust me, if you had one of those Men in Black flash memory eraser things, I'd totally let you zap me."

"I know, darlin'. He was wrong to tell you that shit."

She shrugged. "He thought he was going to die, that Op would kill him. He wanted me to know that he deserved it."

Bobby shook his head at the total cluster fuck their lives had become. He let out a breath and waved his hand around. "Enough about that shit; that's not the only reason I came by. Vix tell you about the lockdown at the clubhouse?" He watched her nod slowly. "Well…revenge is coming for what was done to Gemma. We want to limit the options for retaliation. I need you to lockdown with everyone else."

"No…no way." Jaci spat. "I've been trying to steer clear of SAMCRO and now you're asking me to drag my ass right in the big middle of it all?"

"I'm not askin', J…I'm tellin' ya." He corrected. "Look, I get the separation you've been trying, I'm all for it and as soon as all this shit blows over you can go right back to it. But for now…you know you and your little sister have made some serious enemies in this damn town. Darby and the Nords hate you and now you're on LOAN's radar too. Shit's about to hit the fan with those assholes and the only thing better in their eyes than killing a Son is going to be taking out an Old Lady."

"I'm not an Old…"

Bobby raised his hand, cutting her off. "Don't argue schematics with me. Your sister, Tara, Abel, Moby, etc etc are all going to be at the clubhouse. They're going to need you…Gemma's going to need you." He watched her roll her eyes and process the gravity of what he was saying. He tried to head off any waffling. "No one's going to say shit to you about the Donna stuff or anything else. Tig will steer clear of you, no problems from him, I promise you that. It's just a couple of days, J. And before you tell me to fuck off, I'm NOT taking no for an answer."

She sighed. Being at the clubhouse was the LAST place she wanted to be but if things were going to get rough, she wanted to be by her family. Hell her sister and her nephew were the only people she completely trusted at the moment. BB's words of advice from the previous night rang in her ears. She was to stay calm, help out as much as she could, wait for things to settle then get the hell out of Dodge. She nodded her head slowly, caving into an ingrained habit of lending a hand then her mind leapt to her busy schedule for the day. "Ok…but what about work? I've got appointments I can't break today. I can push them back a few hours but that's it."

"You can go to work if you want, but someone WILL be sitting in the office with you all day."

"Is that really necessary? I mean, who's going to bust into an office complex?"

Bobby shrugged, "I dunno...but it's a question I don't want answered the hard way."

"Ok, ok." Jaci answered and stood up. "We seem to operate on Murphy's Law around here so I guess I see your point."

Bobby smiled. "That's my girl." He nodded down the hallway. "Go pack. I'll escort you in. Vix should be on her way there now." As she walked away from him, he called after her. "Hey…I can't promise you a flash bang memory break…but I can whip up a shot for you when we hit the clubhouse. Called a Mind Eraser, got a shit load of alcohol in it, pretty good at shutting your brain down."

XXX

The chick stepped out of a 70s vintage car clad in a pair of shit kicker boot and camo pants, a black t-shirt layered over a thermal long sleeve and a bright orange hoodie with the word 'Juicy' in scrawling hot pink script across the back. Her face was dominated by big sunglasses that made her look not unlike an insect. The color nightmare didn't stop with her wardrobe – her short, messy, spiked in places hair was bleached blonde with very light random pink tips. Tommy Kozik blinked from his post in front of the clubhouse and suddenly found himself wondering two things, _just who in the hell was this Punky Brewster-wannabe and did she dye the carpet to match the curtains?_

Half Sack walked out to meet Vix. "Hey…driving Miss Ruby's car huh?"

"She don't need it right now; her and Henry are headed out of town to see his family."

"Need help with that?" Half Sack asked as they neared the door.

Vix had been carrying her school backpack, a duffle bag of clothes for her and Juice, and a bag of foodstuffs. She shrugged and slipped the backpack off her shoulder and over to him. The Prospect got a hand on it but it thudded to the floor a second later, the sheer weight of it surprising him. He recovered quickly and rushed further inside, following her. Kozik, who had been watching the pair unnoticed, followed as well. Vix stowed her stuff in a back room and quickly returned, walking across the crowded room to where Juice was standing with Happy, Halfsack and a tall blonde guy. She smirked as the Prospect. "Wuss."

The guys chuckled and he blushed. "What are you carrying around in that thing?"

Vix ignored him and rolled her eyes as she slid up next to Juice. She gave an upnod to the Nomad, "Hey Hap."

Hap's mouth twitched, his equivalent of a smile. "How you doin' sweetheart?" He watched as she eyed Kozik, reading his Tacoma and SAA patches. He got her attention and advised, "Koz."

"Don't you look wilder than an eight second ride." Vix purred with a cocked eyebrow.

"Holy shit." Hap mumbled.

Juice could only shake his head and grin at his secret fiancée. By way of an explanation he dipped his head toward Koz. "This is Vix…she's very Southern."

"Nice." Koz grinned and eyed Vix right back. "You look like Tinker Bell."

Vix snorted but didn't retort. She kissed Juice on the cheek and started away, "I'm gonna go wait for J outside."

XXX

"Alright, chickenshit. Buck up and let's get this over with." Jaci muttered to herself as she stepped out her car and onto the TM lot. How many times had she had to give herself a pep talk at this very place? She up-nodded to Bobby has he dismounted his bike and waited for her closer to the clubhouse door. Grabbing her duffle bag from the trunk, she slung it over her shoulder and began to walk.

XXX

Tig stood with his back to the Chapel doors, arms crossed, scanning the crowded clubhouse. The place was nearing madhouse status with associates from town and guys from other charters milling around talking. There were an alarming number of kids in the room and Tig cringed as one actually put her hand on the stripper pole that resided toward the front corner. The phrase '_don't touch that, you don't know where it's been_' came to his mind. He grunted and kept looking for one person in particular, _Jaci_. The clubhouse door opened yet again and there she was.

His heart seemed to stop for a moment as he watched her and Vix walk through the door. The Parker sisters both looked bright and alert and no matter what they might have been when they rolled into town a year ago, they were 100% hardened badasses now. They had been through a load of shit, battered and bruised and he knew at least where Jaci was concerned, he had been the cause of most of it. Vix fit in, wearing one of her stock funky outfits and a smartass smirk. Jaci looked like a lawyer here to represent the rift raft against the Supreme Court if need be…maybe she had missed her calling.

His focused attention on Jaci wasn't a form of pining so much as he was honestly nervous as fuck about her being there. His concern was mostly self-preservation. It was simple, he had made a murder confession to a chick that seemingly hated himand now she was standing in a room full of his brothers and everyone important to the Club. If she decided to have a vengeful moment, he was fucked. Add to the mix, the fact that he made out with his best friend's wife the morning before...he was praying that everyone remembered the code of KEEP YOUR FUCKING MOUTH SHUT.

The first person to approach the girls was Gemma. She hugged them fiercely, getting return hugs back just as tight. He could read the whispers of 'I'm so sorry' and watched as Gemma waved them off, surely telling them how thankful she was to have them here. As Jax came to the girls next, Tig stood up a bit straighter. This was a defining moment. Jax hugged his sis-in-laws but lingered a moment longer with Jaci, whispering something in her ear. Tig's paranoia flared as Jaci listened and then nodded. _What the hell did he say?_

As the girls wandered through the crowd in search of their little nephew, Tig relaxed slightly. Of course, deep down he _knew_ Gemma wouldn't say anything because she had as much to lose, her _life_ included. Clay was about to go to war defending her honor, he wouldn't take kindly to knowing she had nearly cheated on him, no matter what the reason. And deeper down still, he knew he wouldn't have confessed to Jaci unless he thought it was safe. As pissed as she may be, Jaci had club blood running through her veins. She'd keep a secret no matter how dirty. But the paranoid side of his brain was ansty and just hoped everything and everyone held their shit together.

XXX

As Jaci held Abel in her arms and made idle chit chat with Tara, she did her share of looking around the room, not wanting to have a surprise run in with Opie, Piney or worst of all Tig. She was trying to play it cool but wasn't calmed down enough yet to trust her ability to form an intelligent sentence if she bumped into one of them so she kept track of where they were at all times. Happily, she hadn't even seen Tig yet…maybe he was being kept out of sight on purpose which was fine by her.

"I feel a little overdressed for this." Jaci commented as she noticed a woman she had never seen before walk past in a jean mini skirt with a split white tank top that had her boobs straining to break free.

"You're fine...completely fine." Tara replied and then snorted a short laugh, neither one of them buying it. "You should have known biker causal is the dress code of choice around here."

Jaci shook her head. "I have to go to work for a couple of hours. This shit was short notice, I couldn't cancel some things. Believe me, I packed to blend for later."

She watched as Jax scanned the room and nodded, checking that everyone was accounted for. He nodded to someone over her shoulder and made a cutting gesture across his neck. A ear piercing whistle ripped through the clubhouse making Jaci jump and whip her around just in time to see and hear Tig yell, "Everybody! Listen up!" She gave Tig a half second look of annoyance and then held Abel tighter, kissing the top of his head as she turn to watch Clay step to the front of the room a moment later. It was speech time.

Clay raised his hand in a wave. "I want to welcome you all to Club Reaper. Glad you made your reservations early because as you can see, we are booked to capacity. You're here because you're family and because SAMCRO takes care of its own. Next couple of days… we've got some business to handle that could put our members and people connected to us in dangerous situations. Now chances are nothing is going to happen but people have already been hurt on my watch and that ain't ever going to happen again." He paused long enough to look protectively at Gemma. "No one gets in, no one leaves. You got a security concern, you talk to Piney. You got a comfort concern, you talk to my queen. Under this roof, you will all be safe. Make yourself at home. I love all of you."

The crowd erupted in loud applause. Jaci mused to herself that the speech sounded good but it was hard to believe it word for word with all the bullshit she knew. She raised her eyebrows as she watched Jax and Clay hug fiercely in front of her. Everyone's general attitude had been unsettling to her and that move had solidified it. She had expected angst and accusing looks but everyone was really pushing the brotherhood thing. Bobby had told her that everything had been put on hold, that the main focus was avenging Gemma and putting Zobelle and his crew down but she had thought that to just be lip service. Turned out he was telling the truth. Maybe this lockdown wouldn't be as awkward as she had feared.

XXX

As soon as the speech was over, Jax made a beeline to Jaci and grabbed the duffel she had laid at her feet. He nodded toward the back, "I'll show ya where you're bunkin'." A little look told her it was time to talk and she followed without a word. Of course, they were being watched and seeing that particular pair walking off together put Tig's head on a swivel and made his stomach clench.

Jax opened the dorm room door, "VIP suite...figured you and Vix could room in with Tara and Abel. Lyla will be in here too with her kid and Op's two."

Jaci nodded along and glanced at his VP patch on, "So I take it the Nomad idea is on ice?"

"Yeah, you can deep six those guardian papers if you want."

"Well...this is probably better for everybody. People need you around here...obviously more than you realized." She took a deep breath, not sure how to approach the 500lb gorilla in the room with them. "But...I understand why you wanted to leave now. Why you thought some things were un-fixable...why you've been so _anti_-certain people."

"He should have kept his mouth shut."

"Yeah, I wish he had too. That shit certainly colors your opinion of some people, doesn't it?" She paused. "So now what?"

Jax looked around the room and shrugged. "Some shit takes a backseat for a while."

Jaci nodded in agreement and understanding and couldn't help but think about how bad she wanted away from the club and even the whole damn town but had to wait to put together an exit plan. Her brow creased as she got lost in thought.

"You ok?" Jax asked with concern.

She blinked out of her revelry. "Yeah…I couldn't agree more. Shelve some shit for now, worry about it later."

"Good. It's gonna be ok, J." Jax replied and pulled her into a quick hug.

Just as they pulled apart, Chibs stuck his head in the doorway. "Jackie-Boy, table in five."

"Alright man, thanks."

Chibs upnodded at Jaci. "And Gemma's lookin' for you, said she wants to PLAN some shit." He gave her a wink and disappeared.

Jax and Jaci shared a look and deep breath before heading back into the madness. She did a mental count in her head. '"You know Moby will want to stay in here with all the other kids...gonna be a little packed."

He smirked, "You can crash in a sleeping bag out in the common room if you want..."

"Funny...I'll make due in here, thanks."

XXX

As a crowd of Sons stood outside the Chapel doors, gathering before entering, Juice glanced over at Vix. "Hey, we never discussed what you were going to do all day today."

Vix sighed and shrugged. "I'll just take the Prospect or one of the outta towners and go to Twisted. J was just bitching that my salon was never open. Guess I'll make an effort."

His protectiveness of her and their unborn baby bloomed to life instantly. "One more day won't kill your bottom line so unless you can cut hair wearing full body armor and a helmet your ass ain't leaving this compound."

She considered his blunt words for a moment and simply replied, "Okay". She walked over the sofa against the wall and sat down, popping in her earplugs and messing with her iPhone. Juice walked inside the Chapel.

Bobby cocked his head. He and Happy had been standing just inside the Chapel doors and had heard the entire exchange between SAMCRO's resident love birds. "What was that? Cause whatever _that_ was… it wasn't normal Vix _never_ just complies." He glanced at Hap incredously. "And what happened to Juicy? They give him a dose of dominance with his plasma for all those stab wounds?"

Hap shrugged and stuck his head outside the door. "Vix! You a'ight?"

Vix pulled out her ear buds and raised her eyebrows. "Huh?"

Bobby pushed in front of Happy. "Your old man says jump and you say how high? What's up with that, Sweetheart?"

"I'm sick of almost dying lately." She replied then shrugged. "Gonna try something new. If that don't work, I can always go back to the way I was before."

XXX

In the Chapel, the members of SAMCRO plus Kozik had just finished talking about the education of Weston concerning Zobelle's wetback connection. Plans and assignments were made for the day but before he banged the gavel, Clay looked to Piney, "Ok, security concerns…we lacking coverage anywhere?"

"All the kids are staying home from school. Gemma and Tara should be here most of the day; if they leave The Prospect is with them. Vix is staying in…Bobby, didn't you say something about Jaci needing out?"

Bobby nodded, "Yeah…needs a half day at work, has appointments she can't cancel."

"Kozik you up for some babysitting?" Clay smirked and asked without missing a beat.

"The lawyer chick?" Kozik asked with raised eyebrows.

"Accountant." Bobby corrected automatically.

"My sister in law." Jax chimed in to clarify the real relation.

"Sure, no problem." Koz shrugged.

All through the little exchange, Tig clenched his jaw so hard his teeth threaten to crumble but he managed to keep his mouth shut and just stared down at the table. In his head he was screaming, _ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!_

The gavel banged down and the room cleared quickly with everyone off to their task for the day. Tig glared at Clay, "Was that on purpose?"

Clay couldn't help but smile and play innocent, "Was what on purpose?"

Kozik waited outside the Chapel doors and as Clay and Tig approached, he tapped Clay on the shoulder. "Hey…if there's anything else Tacoma can do, just let me know."

"I will…we're glad you're here." Clay replied.

"You ok with this, _Tiggy_?" Kozik asked as he stared at Tig with smirk.

Tig shot a glare back at his ex-best friend but acted nonchalant. "Yeah, it's great." When Kozik didn't immediately back off and leave, the pissing contest began. A disgusted look bloomed on Tig's face and he cocked his head. "What? You want a kiss or something?"

Kozik smirked and walked off…right over to where Bobby stood with Jaci by the clubhouse door.

"I am NOT ok with this." Tig seethed as he whirled to face Clay. He hated Kozik being here at all but his irritation had just hit a new peak knowing that little punk Ken doll looking motherfucker would be with his ex all goddamn day.

"Really? I couldn't tell." Clay replied with a grin then added seriously, "Tough. Suck it up."

Bobby made quick introductions between Koz to Jaci but as they walked out of the front door he hollered at the Tacoma SAA. "Kozik!" Bobby waved him back for a minute and looked around before he said anything to him. "Look, she's aVIP… Jax's sister in law, her uncle's a charter President down South…but she used to be _important_ to one of the guys here too, so just…mind your manners, ok? Behave yourself."

"She somebody's Old Lady?" Koz asked and watched Bobby shake his head.

"Not exactly…and she's an EX whatever at any rate. Don't worry about it. Shit, forget I even brought it up."

Koz could sense Bobby was hiding something, something good. He smiled, "Dude…was she with YOU?"

"What?! No!" Bobby waved him off and lowered his voice. "It was Tig, ok? She and Tig have history…might wanna tread lightly. Don't ask any questions."

"Ooooh." Koz replied with a smirk.

"No…that's exactly what I'm talking about. I don't need him trying to beat your ass for something so…"

"No problem, my man. I'll be saint." Koz put his hands up. "You know, Bob…you shouldn't even have said anything."

XXX

As Jaci settled in behind her desk, Kozik walked around her office getting a feel for the place he would be confined to for the next four hours. He was bored beyond belief in 15 minutes, that's when the questions started. He had the voracity of a 5 year old in that respect. Every response from Jaci was met with another question, "How come? Why? What's that mean?"

"Why is the sky blue?" Jaci replied in a mocking tone.

Koz frowned at her. "Don't get snippy. I'm just trying to pass the time."

"Can you pass it by sitting in that chair being quiet?"

"Nope…like a shark, gotta keep moving."

Jaci replied with a curt, "mmmph" as she briefly pictured duct taping him to the chair and watching to see if the shark comment held true and he would in fact die if he were stationary.

He studied a collage frame full of photos as he rolled the Magic 8 ball from her desk in his hands. Dude, woman, baby, ahhh Tinkerbell. "So that Vix chick is your sister?" He heard a grunt from Jaci he took to be affirmative. "Which one of you is adopted?"

"You're not the first to make that assumption."

"You got any coffee? This is an office, you gotta have coffee right?"

Jaci sighed. "In the hallway…try not to scare the shit out of anyone."

He returned a few minutes later, sipping from a Styrofoam cup. "Your sister…that's Juice's Old Lady right? He was at our clubhouse when they broke up a while back. Godddamn he was a sad sack. He showed me a picture of her…her hair's way different now."

"It changes with the weather."

"What's she do? You're a bean counter and all…can't imagine her sitting in a box all day."

"Beautician, she owns a salon downtown."

He rubbed his hand over his messy hair. "No shit. She cut dudes' hair?"

"Yep."

Koz finally sat down but only to mess with the small Zen garden Jaci kept on the side table. He picked up the little rake and began sweeping the sand around the stones. She thought she would finally have peace and quiet but after a few moments he snorted out a loud laugh.

She dropped her pen on the desk in frustration. "Ok, what's so funny?"

He grinned at her. "I totally just got the mental picture of a teeny tiny cat taking a shit in this thing. You know like it's a litter box?" He kept grinning and then squinted up his face like he was straining. "Meow!"

She didn't want to laugh but she couldn't help it. His grin was infectious. They shared a long laugh and she threw her head back. "Kozik…Tommy…whatever the hell you go by, you're killing me!"

"Koz." He corrected.

"This shit I'm working on is complicated. I really need you to chill out. Please. If you can just be quiet for a little bit more, I will totally let you copy your ass on the copier when we leave."

His eyebrows shot up. "Really…I've always wanted to do that."

"Every man has always wanted to do that."

"Ok, deal." He retorted but then held up the tiny rake. "One more question though…what's up with you and Tig?" The smile immediately fell from Jaci's face and he knew he had hit a very serious nerve. "I heard you and him have history."

"Who told you that?"

Koz shrugged. "Just heard it. So what happened…he fuck you and then not call you or something? One night stand break your heart?"

Jaci averted her eyes and went back to her work. She was uncomfortable talking about Tig in general, let alone with a stranger. But that stranger was here to save her life if need be, it was probably best not to piss him off. She awarded him a vague answer. "Worse than that…the night lasted for a YEAR."

"No shit?" Koz was intrigued. "That's sort of amazing. You're not really Tiggy's type."

"Yeah, I think we've all figured that out now." Jaci replied quietly then frowned. "Tiggy? You call him that?"

"Yep."

"To his face?"

"Oh yeah, he fuckin' hates it." Koz grinned. "Well, he used to tolerate it…now not so much."

Jaci picked up on the change in tone. He was making a joke but the grin didn't go all the way to his eyes. "Sounds like you two have a little history of your own. What happened?"

"Stuff…things." Koz replied and went back to messing with the Zen garden. His endless line of questions stopped as well.

They almost made it to the end of the scheduled work day when Jaci's phone rang. It was Gemma wanting ideas on feeding the hungry hoard of people at the clubhouse. They decided on spaghetti, quick, easy and cheap. Koz and Jaci were to grab the particulars from the store and haul ass home. Jaci hung up the phone and smiled at Koz. "Good news, you got your wish. Work day is over. I've got to help cook dinner for the masses."

He stood up and stretched his long body. "Thank God...this office is like bein' in a goddamn jail cell. I don't know how you do this shit." He was halfway out her door when he stopped and turned back around, "Hey, where's the copier?"

XXX

After he finished giving his eye witness report concerning the Cara Cara fire at the police station, Chucky returned to the SAMCRO clubhouse. He hoped he would still have some sort of a home with the outlaw bikers. Even though they had originally handed him over to Lin, he had liked a few of the guys in the short time he had interacted with them. He never cared very much for Tig but would have to work on that since the cranky biker had saved his life.

He walked around the clubhouse, which had quieted down considerably. He didn't see anyone he really knew until he spotted the blonde girl seated at a table. She was the one whose dog had been killed at Cara Cara. _Awkward._ He started to just walk past her without saying anything but happened to glance down and noticed she was doing some sort of math and reading out of a text book. She didn't look like much of a student; his curiosity was peeked. "What…whatchya studying?"

Vix glanced up, not recognizing the voice that was speaking to her. Her eyes landed on Chucky, the Handless Wonder. She frowned and waved a finger to his wrapped hands. "You…with the hands again."

"I got burned…in that fire at the porn place." He replied and then blurted. "Speaking of that place…I'm sorry about your dog."

"Zip it!" Vix snapped and shook a finger at him. "I don't talk about _that_."

"Oh…sorry." Chucky shuffled his feet. _Change the subject! _"So…your book there…"

"I have an economics final to pass in 12 hours." She then added sarcastically. "Know anything 'bout that?"

Chucky grinned. "Oh yeah…actually…I'm sort of an accountant…good with money. I can teach Economics to a monkey in 12 hours."

"No shit?"

"You're probably a lot smarter than a monkey. Just gotta find a way to relate in the information to you."

Vix grinned. "You're my new best friend...sit your ass down."

XXX

Dinner went surprisingly smooth considering the sheer number and mix of people to feed. The women who weren't seeing over the kids were in clean up mode. On her way back from the restroom, Jaci spotted Opie sitting alone at the bar. He was staring off behind the bar with his plate half empty in front of him. She felt more in control of herself after having spent several hours at the clubhouse without incident and against what might be deemed sane judgment, she _wanted _to talk to Op. She walked over, careful not to startle him completely. "You finished with that?"

Op stared down at his plate like he was seeing for the first time, not even really remembering eating any of it. He then slowly turned his head to Jaci for a moment then looked away. "Yeah, I guess so."

She took the plate but remained by his side. He swiveled on the bar stool and looked out across the clubhouse and spied Vix and Chucky huddled together at a table, looking at a text book. "Your sister has a new buddy."

"What happened to his hands?"

Op told her the harsh truth. "Lin cut his fingers off for stealing from him...and for…whacking off too much." Jaci's eyes widened a bit. He gave her a warning look, "You should stay away from that place."

She nodded and thought that Tig's warning to stay clear of Oakland and Lin made more sense than just jealous ramblings.

Op turned his attention back to the bar but said quietly, "You're not here to talk about the freak though."

"No...I…" She didn't know exactly how to say what needed to be said. "I am SO sorry, Op. I can't...Tig should have never…"

He shook his head. "Not your fault...you're not responsible for the shit he does."

"No...but I think I might have lit the match on all of it. I need to own my part of it." He frowned at her, not understanding. She stepped closer to him and leaned against the bar. "I sat down to work on your finance stuff...and I saw that all your debt was gone. I tried to find you but this was right when you got hauled in. It was a red flag. I didn't know what to do…so I told Tig, who must have told Clay."

Op closed his eyes and took a deep breathe. She started to apologize again but he was so tired of hearing those words from everyone. _I'm sorry…Op, I'm so sorry. Yeah well, who gives a fuck? That sorry's not fixing anything. _He waved her off. "Doesn't matter, Jaci. They would have found out about all that anyway. Stahl painted a pretty convincing goddamn picture."

Jaci shrugged, ashamed. Hindsight was 20/20 and they all did what they thought was right at the time but that didn't make her feel any better.

He pushed away from the bar and stood. He took a step away but then turned, "Let me ask you something though...if Tig hadn't screwed up, if he'd popped _me_ instead of killing my wife and then you found out I wasn't a rat…would you be standing here explaining yourself to her?"

Jaci thought about his what if for a second and then shook her no.

"Didn't think so." Op replied and walked off.

The guys knew what they signed up for in the Club. They knew the risks and what could happen. The wives…well they knew but prayed for the best or ended up leaving. And maybe that was the part that bothered Jaci the most. Donna wanted to leave; she had wanted a new life…but would never get it. And maybe that was what bothered Opie too.

XXX

As a few guys broke down extra tables that had been set up in the extra front room for dinner, Jaci cleared away the serving items. She knew it was mostly pointless to put it all up only to have to get it all back out for breakfast in the morning but cleaning was helping her nerves. Besides, there were too many people in too small of a space and just a little mess from everyone would soon amount to a pig sty situation. Who knew how long they would be all crammed under the same roof.

She walked past the wall of mug shots and took a moment to look them over. Seeing everyone in their younger years used to be funny, but now it just seemed sad. They weren't badasses to be admired, they were idiots that were fucking around and got sent to jail. They left their families in a pinch and some of them never came back.

Her eyes land on the picture of Tig. It was from years earlier, he looked much younger, clean shaven, short hair, seemed to be a totally different person. That glint of mischief was still in his eyes but seemed more subdued. She wondered how he was back then? If she would have gotten to him back then would things have been different? Her inner self snorted. _He's holding a jail placard, how different do you really think it would be? Idiot._

Besides Jaci knew she wouldn't have looked his way years ago. She was busy finishing college, building her career, thinking about her future ...too busy/too focused to get sidetracked by the likes of him. That time was before Dean had ripped her heart out, before she had to face facts that doing things the RIGHT way doesn't always net you the fairytale life you planned. Her and Tig both were worse for wear these days. She shook her head and walked off.

Jaci wasn't exactly watching where she was going as she headed to the clubhouse's back hallway. Her mind was racing as always with other things she needed to do and physically she had her arms stacked up with a huge box of plastic forks and two bundles of napkins. She rounded to the left at JT's bike, a storage closet being her destination. She was walking full blast when she ran into a brick wall that sent the items in her arms flying.

"SHIT!" Tig yelled as he smacked into _something._ He had been headed to the front of the clubhouse, head down, trying to find a number on his phone then the next thing he knew he was trying to keep from hitting the floor. His phone went flying and he blindly grabbed for anything. He managed to stay on his feet but was hunched over someone with his boot on their foot and their arm in his hand. "Watch where the fuck you're…"

The words clogged in his throat as he looked down into Jaci's eyes. He took a step back and pulled her completely upright. "Shit." It wasn't the most eloquent response ever but it's the only word that managed to come loose. He blinked as she frowned at him and stepped away to retrieve his phone.

Jaci took a second to attempt composing herself and then bent down to pick up the mess that littered the floor. "Damnit." She muttered as her hands shook from the surprise and embarrassment of the hit and just WHO she had run into. A pair of boots moved into her line of vision. She refused to look up, _couldn't _look up. "I got it."

He stood with his hands on his hips for a moment, not sure what to do. Of course he had received firm instructions to stay the hell away from her during the lockdown, no contact, no talking, no anything. But he hadn't meant to plow her the fuck down, it seemed cold to just walk away. He glanced around the hall to make sure they were alone. "I didn't see ya." Tig mumbled. He finally bent over to help her but that move was not received well.

"I GOT it. Keep walking." Jaci hissed. He ignored her and bent down, grabbing rogue forks. One was immediately snatched from him. "I said I GOT IT." She finally ventured a glare in his direction and had to clench her teeth to keep from commenting on his appearance. His face was wrecked; a set of butterfly stiches held together the deepest cut with black bruises covering his nose and right side of his face. Opie had worked him over good, Tig was lucky nothing was broken, well at least not physically. Relationships, emotions…all that shit was good and busted.

He silently stood above her as she gathered up the last of the mess and stepped back slightly when she stood up. As she took off toward the closet without so much as a glance in his direction, he absently tapped the plastic fork in his left hand against his leg…then snapped it in half, dropping it to the floor as he continued on his way outside.

XXX

The time quickly came for the guys to load up and leave for the violent rendezvous with Weston's crew. There was no big announcement, just a simple look between Jax and Clay, a glancing of watches and a nod toward the front door. Some of the adults knew what was going on and trailed outside to give a supportive send off. The kids were oblivious and kept running around playing and chattering.

Opie, in an as of late uncharacteristic loving gesture, interrupted the paper airplane construction war that Kenny and Ellie were involved in long enough to hug and kiss them both on the top of their heads. "Be back in a little bit." Lyla watched the moment a few feet away while tying her son's shoe and smiled slightly then made her way out front.

Vix felt Juice's hands squeeze her shoulders from behind and laid her pencil down. "Let's take a break, Chuck." The odd trio walked outside together with Juice holding Vix's hand and Chucky following behind them.

From her perch on the couch, Jaci noticed the quiet exodus and handed her phone over to Moby who was sitting beside her. They had been playing a game involving volcanoes and angry Tiki island people. "Keep playing…see if you can beat my high score." She pulled playfully on the tips of his spiky hair and ended up meeting Bobby on his way outside. He gave her a warm smile and a hug. She looked at him seriously and said quietly, "Kick ass and come back." He nodded, "Yes, ma'am."

Outside everyone was exchanging handshakes or hugs and well wishes for the impending fight and had formed a sort of tunnel for the guys to walk through before reaching their bikes. It should have been a solemn time but everyone was getting amped up on the possibility…the damn near certainty of revenge against the LOAN set. Jaci found her sister and Juice and gave him a playful slug on the arm before finding a spot along the tunnel to stand. She snuck a peek back at them and smiled. _Those goofballs are so damn good together._ She watched as Juice wrapped Vix in a hug. What she couldn't hear was her sister telling Juice to be careful and hurry his ass back to "us", nor could she see Juice ghosting his hand over her sister's belly. That was a secret that wouldn't be revealed to the public for a few more weeks.

One by one the guys made their way through the crowd. Jaci gave a smile to Chibs while tapping her finger on her temple, silently telling him to be careful with his head. A low five was given to Half Sack, an up nod went to Op and Hap. When Kozik walked by, she said, "Watch your back, babysitter." He gave a cocky smirk and replied, "Will do, bean counter." The exchange was fun but not flirty. Neither one had an interest in the other but they had oddly enjoyed their partial day together. She found him to be a good natured guy with a fun sense of humor and he thought she was pretty cool, although initially he had thought she looked like she could be a little bitchy.

Jaci suddenly noticed Tig was the next one coming down the pipe With all the rowdy chaos around them, they managed to lock eyes for a second. In their prime, they could read each other perfectly with a glance but now the messages being sent were hazy as hell. Worry, love and hate were all wrapped up in uneasy ambivalence. At that point, neither one of them really knew how they felt about the other or how they _should _feel. Jaci did feel compelled to say _something_ given the brotherhoody, _everyone is together_ _on this_ vibe that was in the air but was drawing a blank on verbalization. A moment later some out of town Son pushed in front of her to shout well wishes at Tig, albeit covered in obscenities. She was relieved for the interruption…all she could think to possibly say to her ex was "Don't die" and that wasn't very encouraging.

She watched as Clay embraced Gemma for a long moment and Jax gave a kiss to Tara. She ducked out of the line and looped around the back of it to stand next to the SAMCRO inner circle of women along with her sister. Clay spotted the Parkers and gave them a nod. Jax gave a fist bump to his sister in laws and Jaci knew exactly what to say to the SAMCRO President and VP, "Be vicious."

Clay smirked and called over his shoulder as he walked away, "Absofuckinglutely."

The women stood, along with Chucky, and watched as the guys roared out of the lot on their bikes. Everyone was putting on a good front but they were all nervous with worry. Gemma finally broke the silence and put her arms around Tara and Vix while Lyla and Jaci stood close. "They'll be ok. It'll all be alright. Let's go inside, see what the little hellions are up to." Gemma reached a hand out to Chucky, "Come on…you're with us now." He grinned and followed behind her like a puppy.

XXX

The Parker sisters started to trail inside when Vix pulled up short. A wave of nausea had just hit and she suddenly couldn't stand the thought of being cooped up inside with so many people. "Hey...let's just get some more fresh air, ok?"

Jaci shrugged, "Fine by me." She walked to the picnic table and climbed up to sit atop of it. She glanced at her little sister who sat down on one of the benches. "You ok?"

"Yep." Vix lied and leaned her back against the table, staring up at the metal roof covering them. She took several deep breathes and hoped the icky feeling would pass soon.

Comfortable silence passed between them, each off in their own world. Randomly, Jaci began clicking the heels of her flip flopped feet together. "There's no place like home, there's no place like home."

Vix couldn't help but smirk, "You missin Bama, Dorothy?"

A sigh escaped from Jaci. "You have to admit… shit like this never happened down South." 

"Yeah...but it COULD." Vix replied. "Klan ever get their nut up, it'll get just as bad down there."

"Mmm." Jaci thought on the subject for a moment. "I hear Wyoming's nice." 

"Too much snow."

"True."

Jaci might have been off her game with Tig and unclear on what was going on in his head but she could damn near FEEL Vix thinking and worrying about something They were sisters and knew each other's moods and vibes perfectly. Both of them had been chewing on some important stuff and holding back info and they could both tell it. But even though they could feel the secrets in the air, they weren't about to show their cards. Vix wasn't ready to share her big secret of an impending marriage and baby and Jaci _couldn't _share her newfound knowledge concerning her ex and their beloved SAMCRO. 

Vix craned her neck and looked up at her older sister who sat above her on the table. "As much as we know...do you get the feeling there's a shit ton more that we DON'T know?" 

Any sliver of humor Jaci had going disappeared. "It's better to be in the dark, Vix. Some shit you don't want in your head… trust me." She stood up, not wanting to talk anymore. "Besides, knowing everything just makes you a liability."

A concerned frown creased Vix's face. Her news was big but overall it was _happy_…but whatever Jaci was withholding…it wasn't very happy at all. She didn't get a chance to press her sister. The clubhouse door pushed open and Gemma stuck her head outside.

"Ok, you two…get your asses back in here. These kids are in serious need of distraction. They're starting to ask where the guys went."

The girls trailed inside with Vix finding Chucky to restart their study session. Jaci stood next to Gemma and looked over the room scattered with kids and other women she didn't know. Jaci blew out a deep breath. "I really should have thought ahead, we could have had movie night."

Gemma smirked, "There's DVDs under the tv over there but you're probably only going to find porn."

Jaci shrugged and headed to the small entertainment center, figuring she'd take a stab at searching anyway. She set to flipping through dvd cases and found that there was in fact a great deal of porn, an impressive amount really but there were a few real movies sprinkled randomly. She spotted a possible winner and studied the dvd's cover intently. It SAID The Goonies which would be perfect but she worried there was a catch. "Jesus…One Eyed Willie would have a TOTALLY different meaning here."

She popped the dvd free and into the player. She got Tara's attention and waved her over, thinking it was best to hide the screen just in case the movie turned out to be something nasty. Tara and her stood side by side as the movie started to play. _P__lease be the real deal, please do NOT be a porn! _For whatever odd reason, the 80s movie had made its way into the clubhouse and was actually legit. Jaci grinned and hollered for the kids and whoever else wanted to watch to pile in.

As the movie played, Chucky kept craning his neck to try and catch a glimpse. After a few times, he noticed that Vix was doing the same thing while she was supposed to be working on a practice test. He grinned sheepishly, "I love that movie."

Vix grinned back. "Me too." She cocked an eyebrow and her oddball movie soul mate, "Wanna watch?"

Chucky tried to be stern. "Finish your test."

"Hardass." Vix mumbled and frowned at her teacher but knew she needed all the help she could get with passing her final. "Fine damnit…I'll be down in 30 minutes tops. We won't miss anything too good."

XXX

It was only 10:15 but Jaci was asleep. After the movie, all the kids had been put to bed in various places around the clubhouse. Abel had been asleep before the guys left for the fight but had woken up so she had volunteered to rock him back to sleep by swaying in an old chair in the dorm room. She had gotten him back down in his pack and play when she had decided to rest her own eyes and of course that _just one minute _had been long enough for her to conk out. She had a myriad of hectic dreams but the last one was the worse, it was short but it was brutal.

_It was dark, late at night. Jaci sat in her car with a man in the parking to a crowded bar. It had been raining outside; the bar's neon lights were reflected colorfully in the puddles of the parking lot. The guy in the driver seat was upset and she was too but didn't look over at him. Instead she alternated from staring straight ahead at the dash to staring at the row of bikes parked in front of her car. To her left, a row of cars and trucks were parked next to a long beat-down privacy fence. He's pulled her car up in front of the bikes so that they aren't really in a parking spot at all, just sort of in the middle of the lot._

_They argued for a moment and finally he said, "Gimme your gun." Before she could protest, he reached across her into the glove box and pulled out her black Berretta 9mm handgun. He shoved the gun outside the rolled down driver side window. _

"_What are you doing?!" Jaci yelled and a second later that question was answered with action. He started shooting at the tire of one of the bikes. "Holy shit! Are you crazy?!"Jaci half threw herself across the console into the driver and tried to pull at his arm that held the gun but he kept her at bay from him with his other arm._

"_We'll fucking end this shit right now." He growled and kept shooting…only he must be drunk because he wasn't hitting anything. After the third shot, Jaci sat back in her seat, too dumbstruck to doing anything. She was utterly shocked at his behavior and feared the wrath of the bike's owner._

_Sure enough after a few shots, the door to the bar swung open and out came Jax along with some of the SAMCRO guys but she didn't get a good look at them because the moment Jax cleared the door, the yelling started. Jax and his crew were screaming and as she started to turn her head toward them, the muzzle of her own gun was shoved against her temple. She immediately froze and asked in a whisper, "What are you doing?" _

_Jax was getting closer to the car. Anyone else would have run or stayed inside the bar, but his cocky ass had to meet the drama head on and she's actually thankful for his fearless attitude since now she's in dire straits. The driver starts yelling at Jax while pushing the gun harder against her temple. She stupidly thinks to herself, _that's going to leave a mark_. She can't really make out what they are arguing about cause she's a little too terrified and apparently her ears have stopped working. All she can hear clearly is the pounding of her heart. Her left hand is clamped onto the driver's upper thigh with a death grip. She stares his black jeans. She's trying not to move but her body is starting to shake and her heart is pounding so hard she's beginning to fear a heart attack._

_Jaci keeps her eyes glued on the dash of the car and occasionally slides a glance to the parking lot a little to the right. Time has slowed down to a snail's pace. The driver and Jax are continuing to scream at each other and she squeezes his knee hard and shuts her eyes, waiting for the bullet to hit her skull. She's afraid he's going to be so mad that he accidentally pulls the trigger and she'll end up like that kid in Pulp Fiction that John Travolta shoots because they hit a speed bump._

_After a few moments, she can no longer stand to be in the car, the urge to get out is overwhelming. She swallows hard and starts trying to think about how many bullets might be left in the gun. She honestly thinks it's empty but math under pressure isn't really anyone's forte._

_She takes a few deep breaths, feeling secondary to the conversation that is happening between the driver and Jax, who is now leaning partially into the driver side door. Something softens in the driver's voice and she knows it's a good time to make her move. She starts leaning her head down toward her right shoulder; the driver doesn't seem to notice too much so she slowly starts leaning her entire body that way. _

_After a moment she's entirely to the right and the gun is no longer against her head, its just pointing where her head used to be. She stays frozen like that for a moment and then glances at the gun while bringing her left hand up to grab it. Jax sees the move and the second she grabs the gun, the driver lets go of it; mostly due to a punch in the face from Jax. Nice distraction. She hears a ruckus between them as she fumbles for the door handle and pops the door open. _

_Nerves and intense fear have fried her body and she sort of tumbles out of the door, her feet barely landing solidly on the pavement. She pushes the door shut and collapses into a sitting position on the wet pavement, just missing a big puddle. She can hear the driver and Jax talking, no more anger, they are working something out though. Suddenly she can't catch her breath and starts to cry from the intensity of what just happened. She sits with her knees up and her hands over her face. Holy shit that was close…too fucking close. _

_A moment later she hears Jax suddenly yelling, "NO NO…DON'T DON'T!" She looks up and realizes she doesn't have the gun from the car. She had grabbed it but must have dropped it on the passenger seat on her way out. A split second later a gunshot blasts from inside the car. She ducks instinctively but is no longer scared for herself…she knows without a doubt what has just happened. _

_She bolts to her feet and looks inside the car. Her heart breaks. "Tig! Nonononono!" She tries to get to him but someone is trying to pull her back. She fights them off and manages to open the car door. Tig's body is slumped forward against the steering wheel. A spray of blood covers the interior of the car but she doesn't care. She climbs through the muck on her hands and knees and ends up nearly in his lap. She grabs his face in her hands, mumbling "please please please" the whole time, praying that by some miracle he's still alive. "Tig, please!" His eyes are partially open but they're hazy, no longer the sharp blue she loved. The light has left them._

Jaci awoke with a sharp gasp and looked at her hands that were slightly outstretched before her. The dream's terror swirled in her head as she sucked down deep breaths. It took a moment for her to realize she had been crying and she wiped away a few stray tears from her face. A feeling of dread bubbled up from within her and she stood, her eyes scanning the dark room, trying to figure out what to do. _If something was wrong, someone would have said something…they would have woken me up, right? Surely someone would have said something. _She headed to the door and padded quickly down the hall.

She heard a scattering of voices coming from the main room and knew that the fight with Weston's crew must be over. As she reached the doorway, she scanned the few people milling around, disappointed to not find HIM. She turned her attention to the bar and felt stupid…he had been sitting in front of her the whole time. His back was to her as he was leaned forward on the bar on his elbows, holding a cold beer bottle to his forehead.

She stood staring at his back and found herself utterly stuck. She hated him but didn't want him dead by any means. Maybe just seeing that he was alive and ok was enough but just as soon as that thought left her head, other thoughts popped up. _Jesus Christ, just SAY something! You just woke up crying thinking he'd offed himself! It's ok to say something! Everybody else is putting shit on hold, you do it too!_

A deep breath from her got his attention and he turned slightly on his seat to face her, bottle still held to his head. It was another deer in headlights moment for both of them. She swallowed hard and finally managed to up nod to the bottle he's holding, "You ok?"

Tig pulled the beer from his head and looked at the reddish residue his blood had left on the wet label. He shrugged then answered her, "Yeah. I'm ok." He looked her over from head to toe and then frowned slightly. "Where's your shoes?"

Before she could answer, Chibs came walking up from behind her and squeeze past. He slapped Tig on the shoulders, "You good, brother?"

"Yeah." Tig straightened on his stool and rolled his shoulders then added with a smirk. "Hey…saw you head butt that guy..."

Chibs grinned wide. "Broke his nose I'm pretty sure."

Jaci frowned at him, "Chibs...your HEAD."

"Me head's FINE."

"Your head is BROKEN." She countered but he seemed to ignore her chiding.

Chibs nodded toward the front door. "You ready?" Tig gave a curt nod in return, downed the last bit of beer that had been in his 'ice pack' bottle and started to walk away. As Chibs followed, he called back over his shoulder, "Put on some damn shoes, J! This floor's nasty."

Vix smiled at the guys as they left and stood in front of her sister only to be assaulted by a barrage of questions. "Where are they going? How did the fight go? Everybody's ok right?"

"Whoa! Chill. Here's the scoop." Vix replied and quickly recalled the night's events of the cops breaking up the fight mid-stream and hauling off Weston and Zobelle. "The guys are going to wait it out. Be there when those shit bags get released."

Vix paused for a moment as Gemma walked up to them. "I'm sure Clay told you through the grapevine to stay put. Soooo, you wanna go wait with them?"

Gemma gave her a smirk in response. "What do you think, darling?"

"I think we need coffee…and lots of it." Vix replied then looked at her sister. "You staying here? Try to sleep?"

"Oh no. I'm done with that." Jaci said with a shake of her head. "No, I'll go…moral support, right? Ya'll go ahead…I'll work up a coffee supply and met you there."


	31. Pain and Abel

**Walk Away from the Son****  
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SOA  
****Pain and Abel  
****By BG**

The women of SAMCRO managed to stay away from the police station stakeout for a few hours. The initial plan had been to follow the guys straight there but they soon realized they wouldn't make it through the long day without some sort of sleep. So after several phone calls and assurances that everyone was ok, the ladies power napped. Well, all except Jaci, who wanted nothing to do with sleep since her recent suicidal Tig dream.

At 5am, a small caravan rolled into the Charming Police Station parking lot. Vix led the way in her Jeep with Tara close behind in her car with Jaci and Gemma. Next was Lyla and then Kozik, who brought up the rear on his bike. The Sons were in varying states and positions around the front entrance to the police station but all snapped to attention when they saw multiple headlights and the roar of a Harley.

Clay shook his head slowly and started toward his wife who had just stepped out of Tara's car. "What the hell are you doing here? I said I would call you." He asked but with a loving tone.

Gemma shrugged, "Can't sleep…can't sit at the clubhouse twiddling my thumbs any more either. Thought you guys might like some coffee…and some company." Clay gave her a nod and a smile and put his arm around her.

Thankfully the clubhouse was home to a few large coffee urns and they were able to make coffee in bulk and transport it easily in the backseat of Tara's car with Jaci holding the large containers steady. Koz helped her out of the car and grabbed a container in each hand. Jaci followed behind him with a large stack of Styrofoam cups. Clay spied the makeshift barista, "That better be leaded."

Jaci gave him a smile in return, "It's _extra_ leaded." Koz sat the containers on a nearby concrete ledge and Clay and Bobby lead the charge for a jolt of caffeine as the others gathered around as well. She glanced around and tried to decide where to land for the foreseeable future as the other ladies all sidled up to their respective Sons.

"You should be resting." Juice chided Vix. "You've got a big day today."

Vix frowned. "I don't know…I'm thinking of skipping today. Screw the test…there's bigger stuff going on."

Before Juice himself could protest, Vix was assaulted by a barrage of admonishments. "Bullshit." Clay snapped.

"No way." Jax said.

"You're too close to quit now." Jaci added.

Happy shook his head, "Uh-uh."

Bobby chimed in as well, "You gotta do this."

Clay looked seriously at the youngest Parker sister. "All this shit is nearly handled. Been enough bad news…we need some happy." He leveled his finger at her. "You're going to class and you're gonna pass that test."

Vix gave the crew gathered around her an incredulous look as she took in their harassment which she knew to be loving support. She held her hands up in defense. "Jeeeezus. Ok ok! I'll go! Damn. Everybody chill."

"Besides, Chucky might cry if you don't take that test." Op gave the smallest of grins. "Can't disappoint your new tutor."

"Yeah, yeah." Vix replied with an eye roll and went to retrieve her backpack.

**XXX**

Everyone settled back in for what was shaping up to be a very long wait before they would know the legal fates of Zobelle and Weston. Hopefully the pair would be thrown under a jail for a very long time but if by some off chance they slipped through the legal cracks, they had to leave that station at some point and the Sons were going to be there. Then the remedy was simple: the club was going to follow them and then they were going to kill them…hopefully slowing and painfully.

Juice and Vix took seats on the concrete sidewalk nearest the door. Gemma came next, sitting on a bench leaning on Clay's shoulder. Tig had oddly remained silent through the whole ordeal of the women's arrival. He sat alone on the ledge directly in front of the others but finally stood up and got himself a cup of coffee. He walked off and shot the shit with Happy for a few minutes as he smoked a cigarette and drank the jolting hot liquid.

He looked over to steal a stare at Jaci, who was talking with Chibs, Bobby and the Prospect further down the sidewalk. She fit in more today, wearing jeans with a white tee shirt covered by a dark blue zip up hoodie. Her feet were clad in black flip flops and he stifled a smirk at her stupidity of wearing flip flops and obviously being cold at the same time. _Dipshit_. Maybe her short time with Kozik had drained her good sense, but then again it was supposed to warm up later in the day.

Kozik…damnit. Not only did he have to worry about his proximity to his ex- girlfriend but he wanted to steer clear of his ex- best friend as well, who was currently chatting with Jax. Out of respect for the current situation the club found itself in, Tig was doing his best to keep his mouth shut about Kozik being in town. Yes, they needed all the man power they could get right now but he didn't have to _like _the guy being around. He secretly hoped that when everything was over, Koz would push him too far with the snide comments and pet names and smirks and he could beat the shit out of him before telling him to get the hell back to Tacoma.

He finished his coffee and crushed his cigarette under his boot. The caffeine hadn't kicked in yet and the warm liquid actually had him feeling relaxed for the moment. He wished he had a handful of aspirin to take the edge off of his bruised face hurting but walked back to his former perch on the entryway's ledge empty handed. He laid down and gingerly stretched out atop of it. Maybe he'd get lucky and catch a few zzz's before the excitement began.

As day broke, Vix was busy doing some last minute studying. Jaci sat down next to her sister, ready to help her cram for her test if needed even though her brain was in no shape for understanding economic theory. Tig was right in front of them but he appeared to be dozing and she thought he'd just ignore her anyway so the situation seemed safe and neutral. She leaned her back against the brick of the police station and pulled her hood up over her head and then crossed her arms over her chest, getting comfortable. Her eyes stared straight ahead and soon she was lost in thought. Since she was staring at Tig sleeping with his knee pulled up, a few of the guys might have wondered if she was pining for him or plotting his death. In reality she was half thinking of him and half going over all the bullshit surrounding LOAN and the club.

Vix broke the silence bubble a few minutes later, quietly asking Juice, "So since I'm taking the stupid test…and that's out of town, who's coming with me?"

Before Juice could answer, Jaci rolled her head in her sister's direction, "I know a good babysitter."

Juice smirked and leaned forward to look at the girls. "You get along with Koz okay?" 

Tig remained perfectly still but his ears perked to attention at the conversation starting across from him.

"Yeah…he's fine. Seemed like a cool guy. Has the attention span of a gnat though" Jaci replied and then snorted a quiet laugh. "He's oddly a lot like you, Vix. Asks a lot of questions, annoyed the shit out of me at times…ya'll would probably get along great."

Vix smiled as Kozik appeared. "Speak of the devil." He strolled quietly to the end of the entranceway and sat down across from them.

"What'd I do?" Koz asked.

"I was just saying what a good babysitter you were." Jaci replied. "Wanna escort Vix to her big test today?"

Juice grinned. "You get to scope out hot college girls while you're waiting."

"Sounds good, I'm in." Koz replied with a shrug. A lesser man would have felt insulted that he was being pushed to babysitting duties, but when the subject and scenery were so damn fine, who was he to complain. Besides, he had gotten in a few ass kicking duties last night at the fight.

Tig couldn't control himself any longer. Annoyance and jealousy were fighting for top billing in his thoughts. There was a whole goddamn parking lot that asshole could be sitting in, why the hell was he right _there? _And why was he so freaking chummy with the Parkers and Juice. A part of Tig wanted to yell, _MINE, MINE! _like a pissed off toddler. He settled for slamming his boot down hard on the ledge and giving Koz a harsh look, "MOVE."

"Oops, interrupted Sleeping Beauty." Koz smirked then turned and looked up innocently at Tig.

"Oh did we bother you?"

"YOU bother me." Tig snapped. "Move your ass."

"Why?" Koz asked.

"You're crowding me."

Koz frowned and checked their proximity. "But I'm not touching you."

"Move it, faggot."

"But I'm not touching you."

"CHILDREN!" Gemma hissed playfully. Yes, they were grown men gathered here for a very adult and serious purpose but when you pulled back the layers you were bound to find the petulant boy still alive and well inside.

Tig laid his head back down with a huff, knowing not to take the argument any further. Koz let out a low laugh, happy to know he was still under Tig's skin.

**XXX**

Vix checked her watch and closed her notebook. "Well, it's now or never. I gotta go if I'm gonna make that test." Juice stood and helped to her feet, taking her backpack in his hand. She blew out a breath as her sister and babysitter stood as well. "Shit…I didn't realize I'd be so nervous about this."

Jaci stood in front of her sister and put her hands on Vix's shoulders. She had taken plenty of tests in her college days. "Relax…you're gonna do fine. Make sure you read everything twice and if you don't know the answer, skip it and come back to it. Don't waste your time beating your head against the wall."

"I know, I know and go with your first instinct for an answer..." Vix nodded along.

Juice cocked his head in thought. "Actually I think that one is bullshit... first instincts can be plenty wrong. Right?"

Vix frowned and looked from her lover to her sister for confirmation. Jaci shrugged, "I kinda agree with him."

"Well shit."

"And don't just pick C." Juice added. "I think that's ones crap too."

"Don't worry about it...you'll be fine." Jaci waved her hand in the air to stop the confusion.

Kozik stood listening to the ra-ra scramble and snarled his nose. "You guys suck with pep talks, man."

"No one asked you, Kozik." Tig growled, not bothering to even look up or open his eyes. "Good luck, Parker. Don't fuck up."

Jaci gave her sister a hug and whispered in her ear, "I love you…good luck. Go kick ass."

Koz slapped Tig's boot with his hand as he followed behind his charge for the day. "Bye, Tiggy!" He said brightly. He just couldn't help himself.

Juice took Vix's hand and started toward the parking lot. The others showered her with words of encouragement as the pair walked past. At the Jeep, Juice wrapped his arms around Vix and kissed her cheek. "I'm proud of you, ya know. You go take care of this test and I'll take care of these scumbags and then maybe shit can get back to normal."

"Uh, baby…our shit is never going to be normal again." Vix replied and glanced down quickly at her belly. They shared a conspiratory smile and a kiss. "I love you."

"Love you too." Juice replied and peeled himself off of her. "Good luck! I'll see ya later." He slapped his hands together as he spotted Koz, who was waiting impatiently at the back of the Jeep. "Ok man…you keep her safe, you hear me?"

Koz gave him a laid back salute. "No problem." He watched Juice give a last wave to Vix and then head back up the parking lot. With a raise of his eyebrows he asked, "Ok, Tinkerbell…you ready?"

Vix smirked but then sighed. "I can't cram any more shit in my head... if I don't get it by now, it ain't gettin' got." She pulled the keys from her pocked at started toward the driver side door.

"I drove your sister's car." Koz stated after clearing his throat. He waited and she considered his implication.

"It's called SHOTGUN for a reason." Vix countered and pointed to the passenger side. "Shit goes down, the person in THAT seat takes care of business. I'm comfy in either seat though, choice is yours."

Koz snorted an amused laugh and left the keys in her hand. _Tinkerbell , independent woman and ball breaker. Nice._

XXX

Shortly after Vix pulled out of the lot, Unser finally appeared. Clay let out a sharp whistle to get the crew's attention and everyone gathered around quickly. "What?"

Unser waived his hands in frustration. "Stahl's been locked in a room with the FBI two hours now, no idea what's going on."

"What about Weston?" Jax asked.

"Still waitin to hear from the DA." Unser answered and shrugged, frustrated that he didn't have more info. "Sorry." He mumbled and then headed back inside.

Everyone knew that meant more waiting and could barely contain their groans. Tig stood up and rolled his shoulders. Concrete made for a bitch of a bed. He restrained himself from glancing at Jaci, who was now standing next to Gemma. He needed a smoke and headed off.

Clay sighed and took Gemma's face in his hands, "Go back to the clubhouse. They're gonna need ya there."

Away from him was the last place she wanted to be but Gemma nodded along. "Ok baby." They shared a long kiss and she gave him a serious look and whispered, "Come back to me." He smirked and nodded as they held hands.

Gemma started toward the parking lot and looked back at Jaci, who was waiting by her side. "We need to drop you at work?"

"Nah." Jaci replied with a shake of her head. "I cleared my schedule the rest of the week."

Before she could take a step, Clay reached out and gave Jaci a nod and squeezed her shoulder. He hated to admit it but he was thankful for the Parkers being around. No longer a thorn in his side, they were a huge asset and had become fixtures at Gemma's side since they learned what happened to her. They seemed to have her back and he appreciated it immensely, especially from Jaci since she knew about the Donna stuff and had every reason to hate him. She was taking the high road for now and he was grateful.

Jax gave Tara a quick kiss goodbye and leaned over to the Half Sack. "Hey…watch over the girls for me."

"Absolutely." Sack replied and made a move to leave as Jaci gave a small round of silent good lucks to the guys; nods, fist pounds, waves. She gave Jax a tap on the chest and a small smile.

Clay hollered at him, "Good luck, Prospect! That's a lot of estrogen." He watched them pull out of the parking lot and wondered if his queen had sufficient bodyguards for the day. He turned to Bobby who was standing next to him. "Hell if Vix were here, I'd feel pretty good about just letting the Parkers be the bodyguards. But then again, that's at least three headstrong women who aren't afraid to throw down...could be trouble."

Bobby snorted. "Yeah cause Gemma would come up with an idea, Vix would second it and Jaci would go along for quality control."

The slightest of smirks twinged at the corner of Tig's lips, who was within earshot, but he killed it before it bloomed.

Clay shrugged as he turned back to the station. "Honestly, if the Parkers were men, I'd hang a Reaper on their backs in a heartbeat."

"And yet again they disappoint the world by not having dicks." Bobby mumbled, referring to the years of listening to their father, Jesse, complain about having daughters instead of sons.

Happy grinned at Bobby's comment and nudged Tig's shoulder. "You ever disappointed J didn't have a dick…you freak pervert."

"Fuck you." Tig spat.

"See? That's exactly what I'm talking about." Happy teased and grinned at Tig until he got an eye roll and a slight smile.

XXX

The day got much more exciting. The wheels of justice came to a screeching halt and spit out both Weston and Zobelle. It turned out that Chucky was a felon so his eyewitness statement concerning the Cara Cara fire was rejected which freed Weston. Zobelle earned his freedom by being a Fed snitch for the last three years. By giving up crooks in high places and AB shot callers, he was allowed to get away with pretty much anything.

The Mayans escorted Zobelle and his daughter back to Impeccable Smokes and stood guard outside. The Sons sat up shop across the street in a West Wild-esque stand-off. Extracting revenge for Gemma got a bit more complicated but the Clay had no worries all would be settled by the end of the day.

Unser looked back and forth between the two rival factions facing off on Main Street. "Weston's out…Hale's gonna give an escort out of town but he's got a visit with his kids first, San Jaq CFS."

Jax nodded and stated simply. "Catch him at Family Services." Both Opie and Chibs volunteered enthusiastically to assist. The trio roared down the street with one thing on their minds.

Clay, Tig and the rest of the crew stayed put on Main Street, waiting for their chance to handle Zobelle. After a little posturing with Clay, Alavrez went back to his side of the street. Tig frowned and spoke quietly to Clay, "Why didn't you tell him Zobelle was a rat?"

"Cause he'd kill him." Clay answered simply. "And that's _mine._"

**XXX**

The ride to the community college in Lodi was uneventful but oddly comfortable. Jaci had been right, Vix and Koz were very much alike and so the conversation flowed easily between them.

"Ok, first things first…name, rank and serial number." Vix said after she was comfortably on the open road.

Koz snorted. "Um, Tommy Kozik, Tacoma sergeant at arms, don't need a serial number cause I'm one of a kind." He gave her a smirk with the last bit of info. "You?"

She rolled her eyes. "Victoria Parker, aka Vix, rank: Juice's old lady, and you stole my answer for serial number, damnit." She eyed him momentarily. "I shall call you Tommy. Fine by you?"

"Fine by me." He grinned. "I shall call you Tink."

"I've always thought Tinkerbell was a closet badass." Vix retorted then mused, "I feel like we've just been knighted."

Koz pulled a small knife from his pocket and with a fick, the blade shot to full extension. "We can do it right if you want?" He made a waving gesture with his hand, shoulder, head, shoulder.

"Oh shit, not while I'm driving. You might cut my damn ear off." She retorted and turned her attention back to the road but not before cranking the volume on the radio a bit. "Oooh Queen! I love me some Queen."

Koz stared out the window as 'We are the Champions' filled the space. "So, you're a college girl? Thought you cut hair? You gotta have a degree for that?"

"Cut hair?" Vix repeated with mock disgust. "For your information, I OWN my salon and I don't just _cut hair_, I'm a beautician. Do not be fooled, beauty isn't a glamorous thing, man. Beauty equals pain. You should know that, Mr. I'm Covered in Tattoos."

"Sorrrryyy!" Koz shot back. "You didn't answer the question, why the college?"

"Oh…well while you do have to pass state boards to be a _beautician_, you're right, no college degree required. But I bought the salon and at some point I don't want to have to depend on my big sister to handle all the business junk. I wanna do my own books and shit. Make my own decisions, ya know?"

"Fair enough."

Comfortable silence swirled between them for a few miles. Vix found Koz's vibe to be very similar to spending time with Bobby or Chibs. She thought he would fit right in with the SAMCRO crew but had obviously ruffled Tig's feathers this morning. "So what'd you do to piss Tigger off?"

"I dunno…breathe?" Koz mulled over the nickname of _Tigger_ in his head and smiled.

"Eh, ignore him. He never calls me by my name…I'm either Parker or Pain in the Ass. But in all fairness, I something refer to him as Fuckhead. Doesn't take a lot to set him off, he's cranky in general."

"Mmph." Koz snorted then randomly added, "I can't believe he slept with your sister." He watched as she snapped her head over to face him with her mouth dropped open. His eyes widened. "Oh shit! Did you not know that?"

"Pssh! I knew that…Jaci and I are sisters, we know everything." Vix clarified then chided herself internally. _Well, she knows everything except for this kiddo currently growing in my belly and the fact that I'm gonna marry Juice…but she'll learn about that later, no big whoop. _"Question is how did YOU kniow? She doesn't advertise that shit and nobody should be either."

Koz shrugged and played cool. "They say I have a disarming nature."

"Really? Who?"

"THEY." Koz answered with a _duh _tone to his voice that made Vix smile.

A few more miles passed before Vix glanced over at him again. "I don't know about disarming nature, but you DO have great hair. I know you use product and the guys probably give you shit for it but don't be coy with me…what goop you usin'?"

**XXX**

Back at the clubhouse, Jaci waited until Tara left the room to go change Abel's diaper before she cleared her throat. They were finally alone in the small kitchen "Hey, Gemma…I've been wondering about something."

Gemma continued snapping the lid on some leftovers and called over her shoulder, "What's that, baby?"

"Well, you may not even want to talk about this…" Jaci thought for a moment and then took a step, shutting the door for some privacy.

That move got Gemma's full attention and she stood facing the beautiful serious girl before her. The grave look at Jaci's face gave her cause for concern. _What's on her mind? What would I not want to discuss? _Her mind spontaneously jumped to the whirlwind near fucking between her and Tig a few days before. _Good God, surely he didn't say anything to her! _But that thought made her link to something she knew he had told Jaci…the truth about Donna. Clay had told her as they were lying in bed last night. He didn't tell her club secrets as a rule but she had figured this one out easily so he felt obligated to let her know the knowledge circle had expanded by a few thanks to Tig's newfound guilty conscience.

Not one to cower away from anything or anyone, Gemma raised her chin a bit higher, "What's on your mind, Jaci?"

"What happens to her in all of this?"

"Her?"

"HER…Zobelle's daughter, Polly." Jaci clarified. "She's the one right? That set you up…for your attack?"

"How did you figure that out?" Gemma frowned; pretty sure she hadn't shared that info with the Parkers.

"VIx said there had been a woman involved. I know Polly's a devious shit…we just sort of pieced it together, the obvious choice." Jaci replied then sighed. "I figure the guys won't touch her, they at least _try_ to adhere to some rules of engagement."

Gemma thought for a long moment and shrugged, "Might just have to leave that one up to Karma."

"Karma my ass." Jaci snorted back immediately. "Look… I know the hell you're going through; I've been wingman on that ride." She could see Gemma was confused so she clarified. "My roommate in college was raped. I spent a year holding her while she cried herself asleep and then screamed herself awake; had to have all our classes together because she couldn't be by herself. It's a horrible thing." 

"Yes it is." Gemma replied quietly. "How is your friend?"

"She's alright but it took a very long time." Jaci stared at the table for a long moment then locked eyes with Gemma. "I hate that this happened to you. If you did want to _help_ Karma a bit in this situation, Vix and I would be happy to assist. I don't think Vix would mind me volunteering her at all, given the fact that Polly helped torch her salon and damn near torched _her_ in the process."

"That's quite an offer."

"I know but it's something I don't think a MAN can fully understand. They can't really fathom the impact of that act, how it can haunt you. Her _letting_ that happen to another woman is unforgiveable." Jaci replied. "It bothers me that she might get off scot free in all of this."

She had even surprised herself earlier in the day when the violent idea bloomed in her head but it felt right. Even though she was essentially counting down the minutes until she could put this town and this club behind her and even though she knew Gemma was far from innocent in a lot of matters, she hadn't deserved that brutality.

"I just want you to have closure, Gemma…on all levels." Jaci conceded. "The guys will get you most of it but we can get you the rest…if you need it."

Before Gemma could respond, Tara came through the door with Abel on her hip. "Ok, that one was disgusting!"

They all shared a polite smile but as her smile faded, Gemma gave Jaci a nod and mouthed the words, _Thank you. _She had no intention of taking her up on the offer but the offer itself spoke volumes about the character and loyalty of Jaci Parker and Gemma couldn't help but be impressed.

**XXX**

"Ok, we are HERE!" Vix exclaimed as she pulled into the main parking lot of campus. "Ta-da."

Koz scanned the lot and frowned. "Where's all the hot chicks?"

Vix rolled her eyes as she opened her door. "They're _around. _They don't just lay around topless on cars in the parking lot, Tommy."

"That's too bad. I'd be up for some higher education if they did."

As she slung her backpack over her shoulder she eyed her bodyguard who was now stretching his back at the rear of the Jeep. "Um, I don't suppose I could get you to leave your Cut in the Jeep or maybe turn it inside out?"

"Fuck no." Koz spat. "Why?"

"Well, it's just that…I've had some issues here. Campus isn't really biker friendly anymore." Vix replied, thinking back to the horrible beat down that Juice had given one of her professors in a fit of jealous rage. The last thing she needed was to be stopped by campus security because they didn't like the looks of her newfound tagalong friend.

"Tough shit…that's their problem."

"Alrighty then." Vix mumbled, never really expecting him to concede anyway. She led the way across the parking lot and into a huge building. They climbed the stairs to the third floor and she pointed to a classroom. "That's me. Shouldn't be more than an hour and a half."

Koz up-nodded and followed her to the door. She heard his boots muffled on the carpet and turned around in disbelief. With her hands on his chest, she pushed him back slightly. "Whoa, whoa, whoa., Tommy Boy. You can't go inside with me."

"How am I supposed to guard your body if I can't even _see _it?"

"Trust me…if shit goes down inside that classroom, you'll hear me screaming. You just stay out here and keep anything from getting IN. Deal?"

Koz rolled his eyes. "Fine." He spotted a lobby like area off to the right of the classroom. As he was walking, he turned around and called to his charge, knowing she was still probably nervous about her test. "Hey, Tink! Just think, no matter how bad you do on this test, you'd still beat ME." He grinned and gave her a thumbs up.

"You also suck at pep talks!" She shook her head and gave him a sarcastic look along with a return thumbs up then shut the classroom door, disappearing inside.

XXX

Jax's stake out didn't take long. Fortunately for Jax, Weston was a very fucked up and misguided individual as well as being a shitty father. When granted a supervised visit with his son, instead of having some last moment quality time, Weston opted for a getting another tattoo. It just so happened, he picked a SAMCRO friendly establishment. In a bathroom stale and without a fight, Weston took his punishment in the form of six silenced bullets to his skull.

Jax, Op and Chibs strolled into the clubhouse a short while later. Clay had left a skeleton crew to watch over Zobelle and call when he started to move. He eyed his step son. Jax nodded, "It's done."

"I am so proud of you." Happy said in complete seriousness and Clay echoed the sentiment.

Tig watched as his President and VP shared a long embrace. There was a good vibe in the clubhouse and they were one step closer to having the whole situation behind them. Maybe shit could calm down then and there might even be a chance for some clean slates.

"So where are we?" Jax asked.

"Juice's watching Zobelle."

Jax nodded then frowned slightly. "Where's my mom?"

"She's with Tara and Jaci getting supplies." Piney chimed in. "Sack's with em."

Jax nodded again and blew out a breath. He shared a long look with Clay, who was staring at him with something close to admiration. It unsettled him for a moment after all of their differences.

Clay gave his VP a slight smile. "You're a good son." It was a statement he meant in all forms of the word.

"Sons!" A visiting member called out and raised his shot glass. Every member in the room echoed the call in a unified toast.

**XXX**

As she loaded a bag of groceries into the trunk of Tara's car, Gemma let her eyes wander up the street a little ways. Her heart jumped in her chest as she spotted a boxy car with a sign for Impeccable Smokes stamped across its back glass. Her curiosity peaked; Gemma began walking up the street. Polly Zobelle came into her vision, holding a bouquet of flowers and checking her appearance in a mirror several storefronts away.

Ducking out of view, Gemma snatched her sunglasses off her face as she tried to calm herself from the mix emotions that suddenly raged inside of her. She thought back to the revenge conversation with Jaci earlier in the day. _Do I let it go or do I DO something? Take Karma's path or take control? _She struggled for only a moment and then Jaci's words popped into her head and she muttered, "Karma my ass."

She made a beeline back to the car just as Jaci and Half Sack stepped outside from the store. Tara was a few steps behind them, lugging Abel on her hip. "Give me those." Gemma said and made a motion for the keys from Half Sack. "I'm driving." She explained to the girls who gave each other an odd look.

Jaci got into the backseat of the car and buckled Abel into his car seat next to her. Tara sat in the passenger seat, wondering why Gemma hadn't put the car into drive yet. Her eyes followed Gemma's stare and landed on a young blonde woman up the street. "That's the woman you chased."

"Zobelle's daughter." Gemma stated and Jaci snapped to attention, listening as Gemma explained Polly's role in her attack. She dropped the car into drive and pulled out into traffic.

"Where are we going?" Tara asked.

"Forward, baby." Gemma replied with a smirk.

They followed Polly for a while, finally to a neighborhood in Gault and watched as she exited her car and walked to a house. Gemma put the car in park and sat back in her seat.

"What are we doing, Gemma?" Tara questioned again, concern mounting in her voice.

Jaci leaned so she could see Gemma's face and the concentration she saw made her heart beat faster. "Gem…ARE we doing this?" She ignored the questioning look from her quasi sister in law.

Tara suddenly knew exactly what was brewing. Gemma was going after Polly and Jaci was all for helping her. "Gemma…wait. That rape…it would have _destroyed_ most women. But it made you stronger, wiser, more compassionate. Whatever you _think_ you need to do…you're past it."

Gemma shook her head. "My husband, my son, their brothers…they're out there risking their freedom for me. This is how I do my part. God's put her in my path…so I can fix that part of me they ripped open."

With that being said, Jaci unbuckled her seat belt, ready to bolt. Tara snapped her head toward the backseat. "What are you…"

"I'm going with her."

"Jesus! Do you two even _hear _what you're saying?"

"Tara…shut up." Jaci replied softly. "This is beyond you."

Gemma smiled at Tara, said she loved her and that she was happy that Jax was with her. With Tara sitting stunned, she opened the car door, got out and quickly slammed it shut behind her.

"Hey!" Jaci said as she was trying to push the driver seat forward to follow.

"I'm going solo, J." Gemma said sweetly.

"Nononono." Jaci spat and pushed against the seat. "Absolutely not, I told you I would help and I meant it! Let me out! Do NOT try to do this alone!"

Through the open window, Gemma kept her hand on the driver seat, effectively trapping Jaci in the car. She smiled but shook her head. "I love you, Jaci…your sister too. This club's better for you being here. A lot of _people_ are better for it. And I love you for making that offer…but this is on me, something I have to do. You keept my grandson safe till I can get back to him. You want to help me…you do that."

Gemma walked away and both girls scrambled out of the car. Jaci took a few steps down the street which made Gemma turn around and assure her, "I'll be fine."

The finality in her voice stopped both girls. Jaci slapped the roof with her palm as Half Sack made his way to the car, "Where's she going?"

Tara sighed. "Stay here…she may need to get out fast."

"Shit." Half Sack mumbled, not liking the doctor's answer at all.

**XXX**

The girls had driven back to Charming in silence. They both felt like idiots. The charge for the day was to stay safe and they let Gemma march off into God knew what. But then again…there was really no stopping Gemma when she got off on a mission. They pulled into the driveway and worked like a familiar team. Tara unloaded a sack from the trunk and then headed to unlock the house. Jaci unzipped her hoodie from the heat of the day and tossed it in the seat and then hauled a sleeping Abel inside in his carrier.

"So what do we do now?" Jaci asked.

Tara sighed and leaned against the kitchen counter. "I guess just load up what we needed for Abel and then…wait?" She couldn't help but give Jaci a slight glare from her earlier hurtful comment. "I don't know…how long does revenge like this take…since it's BEYOND me?"

"Tara." Jaci warned. "I didn't mean to miff ya. It's just…I've got a little more experience with stuff like this."

"Experience? You're an accountant for God's sake."

Jaci eyed her cooly, giving her an _oh come on_ look. They knew there was more to both of them than what met the eyes. Tara finally waved her off. "Ok, whatever." She tore through cabinets, ramming items into grocery bags and then disappeared down the hall, returning a few minutes later with yet another diaper bag full of things.

"Think he has enough stuff?" Jaci asked with a good natured smile. "Getting to be a high maintenance little guy."

"Better to have it than not with him." Tara replied, trying as well to smooth the tension out of the air. "You want to load up these diapers and things?"

"Yeah, sure." Jaci replied and grabbed the large soft pack of diapers along with a bag of formula, threw the extra diaper bag over her shoulder and walked out the side door.

Outside, she stood in front of the trunk and snorted a laugh at the large metal rod used to hold the trunk open. _The perks to owning a classic car. _She dropped her load of items and stood in the driveway to Jax's house. She scanned the street and sighed. _What a crazy fucking day._ She prayed the day would end better than it was currently sitting and soon. A minute later it sounded as if her prayer was being answered as she heard a motorcycle quickly approaching. She watched as Half Sack pulled in the drive and got off his bike. He was alone. "Where's Gemma?"

"Don't know…the cops swarmed the place. I had to leave."

"Shit." Jaci muttered. "I told her not to try that shit alone."

"I know…I'm gonna have Tara call Jax." He replied and jogged toward the house.

Jaci rolled her eyes and blew out a breath. Damnit, shit was almost ok but now, who knew? She hit her forehead with her fist softly a few times. Nothing was ever easy in this town. Her mind started to race with all the implications of Gemma's absence. She went back to her task of loading the car and getting ready to head back to the clubhouse.

Three minutes later, the crunch of boots on the pavement gravel alerted Jaci to the possible trouble that waited behind her. She had been lost in thought and focused on the task at hand or else she would have heard the noise sooner. A sense of dread immediately twisted in her belly,

A friend would have said something, hell, Gemma would have announced herself from a mile off, so the stealthy silence only meant a foe given the circumstances brewing in Charming. As her heart beat faster, she remained facing the open trunk of Tara's car, trying to pretend she hadn't heard the presence behind her. She moved a bag of Abel's things, which was what she had been loading in the first place. Scanning the trunk for a weapon, she found nothing easily assessable. The metal rod would be nice but would take too long to pull free. She began mapping out her options.

Screaming might alert Tara and Half Sack to the intruder, IF they heard her but it would also seal her fate and probably earn her bullet to the face. Maybe she could talk her way out of an attack or at least buy some time. Hell, maybe she'd get lucky and it would just be a dog behind her. She would gladly laugh at her paranoia. _Please be a dog, please be a dog. _But in the off chance she really was screwed she said a small prayer, _Lord…please protect the ones I love. _She flexed her hands and turned to confront whoever waited behind her.

Her confrontation lasted all of three seconds. That's how long it took for a lanky man that looked as if he had been crying to swing a downed tree branch against the right side of her face. The impact felt like he had used a fully formed baseball bat and knocked her backwards into a sitting position on the lip of the trunk. The metal rod skitted free and fell to the gravel below, allowing the trunk to smack Jaci on the top of the head. He lunged at her next, trying to shove her inside the trunk. They struggled, pushing back and forth with only grunts passing between them until he finally took a step back and sent a powerful front kick to the center of her chest. Air rushed from her lungs with an audible _ooof _and this time she fell solidly into the Oldsmobile's cavernous trunk.

Cameron put a hand on the top of the trunk lid and started to push down. Jaci laid inside with her head thumping and her vision blurred, trying to catch her breath. There was no use trying to make any sense out of what was happening. The main goal was just to get the hell out of the trunk. She saw the black lid coming down and knew it would be as good as a coffin lid. She grunted and launched herself forward, throwing her left hand out in front of her to grab the rim of the trunk just as the lid slammed down on her. An automatic scream escaped her lips as she felt bones crunch in her hand. The initial pain was blinding enough that she didn't even feel the lid slamming down for a second time. Her body went to auto pilot and moved backwards, away from the pain and away from any easy escape from a now locked trunk.

Lying on her side, cradling her smashed hand, she zoned out in the darkness, moaning in pain and throwing a few halfhearted kicks at the trunk latch. Thirty seconds passed before she roared to life again. _Abel._ She inhaled deeply and screamed, "Tara! Kipp! RUUUUN!" _Shit, ok…phone...phone! _Jaci reached around and patted her back pocket where her phone usually was…except this time she could vividly remember leaving it on the kitchen counter inside Jax's house. "Shit!" Time for Plan B.

She leaned forward and began picking at the latch with her good hand, trying to fumble in the dark and somehow find a way to flip the safety latch. Her fingertips were assaulted by sharp metal and still no progress was made. "Come on…come on!" She banged with the meaty part of her fist a few times. "Please….TARA! KIPP!"

As another fingernail was ripped to shreds, a sobering realization hit her, _there was no safety latch_. The car had been produced in the 70s, back before anyone gave a shit about safety…seatbelts, child seats, who cared? all optional. "FUCK!" She screamed and began to think of ways to _break_ the latch. "LET ME OUT OF HERE!" She felt around the space with her good hand, hoping to find a tool of some sort but came up sort. Diapers and formula were worthless. There was probably a tire iron with the spare but that was underneath her and there was no way of getting all of that out with the amount of baby crap in the trunk_. Baby crap…Abel…sitting in the house with a crazy person_. "Hang on baby…I'm coming, I'm coming." She whispered.

If she didn't have a tool, she'd use sheer physical power. She wiggled and managed to flip onto her back and began slamming her left heel into the latch as hard as she could over and over. Her ankle twisted somewhere after the tenth kick but she kept going. "AAAHHH! FUCK!" Pain shot up her leg and frustration ripped through her mind. "LET ME THE FUCK OUT!" She screamed an endless barrage of words, trying to make noise along with slamming both of her hands at the lid of the trunk above her head. That outburst quickly reminded her that one of those hands might be broken. "JESUS …FUCK!"

The tears came involuntarily, both from pain and an impending sense of helplessness that was quickly starting to overwhelm her. She let herself cry for a few seconds. "COME ON!" She slapped at the latch again and started chanting: "Don't this…please don't do this!" Her mind played out a million horrible scenarios for her nephew and friends inside the house. She wasn't sure if she was begging the stranger that had put her in the trunk or God himself for mercy.

When only silence answered her pleas, she stopped worrying about making herself heard or trying to bully her way out of the trunk. She switched to trying to outthink the situation. _Ok, ok…think. THINK! You're a fuckin thinker so figure this shit out. Ok. No safety latch, can't break the lock. Gotta be another way…come on. _She laid on her back, panting from the adrenaline.

An idea bloomed in her head. If she couldn't go out the back or dig her way out the bottom through the spare, maybe she could go out the front of the car…through the backseat. She'd been around enough car remodels to know that seats were easily removed, hell back home in Bama, people had backseats on their porches serving as couches. Seats were sturdy but maybe they were pliable too. She crunched into a ball, managed to move onto her stomach then turned toward the front of the car. Quickly, she pushed the trunk litter to the side and made her way to the lining of the backseat.

The plan was to find a weak spot, push the seat forward just enough to gain a handhold, then to keep pushing and hopefully be able to drag herself through the opening. It turned out to be a slow and painful process. Pushing against the seat required leverage and the only way she gained any was by bowing her back against the metal frame of the trunk. She pushed and pulled and kicked and in turn was scratched and battered but finally she made a sliver of progress.

The backseat frame gave a tiny bit…then an inch, then two inches. By then she was halfway hunched up on her knees, her hurt ankle screaming beneath her, her back bleeding from being ripped in places and the elbow of her left arm holding the frame at bay. _Ok, now we're talking. _Hope began to bloom inside of her, maybe there was light at the end of the tunnel. If she could just get out maybe she could stop whatever the crazy stranger had come to do. She pushed with her good hand but the angle was wrong. The best bet for more progress meant using both hands. She took several deep breaths, amping herself up for the pain. She pictured Abel's smiling face for motivation and pushed as hard against the frame as hard as she could while screaming. The frame moved another half inch in the right direction before slamming back towards her…and trapping both her hands.

The pain flashed and grew for a second before her body decided it had had enough and tried to shut down. Her vision filled with black spots and she went deaf as she fell forward. She managed to free her good hand with a violent rip and pushed one more time to retrieve her other mangled hand. She collapsed onto her stomach and closed her eyes. It was over…there was no getting out. With her face pressed against the trunk carpet, she breathed in the heavy odors of must, oil and time. Sweat that had poured from her due to fast paced exertion and the stuffiness of the trunk now trickled along her body and seemed to find its way to every open cut, stinging like fire.

She groaned and curled into a ball and listened to the sound of Abel crying in her head, his little face red from screaming. A second later the sound got louder, closer even and Jaci realized it wasn't in her head at all. Her imagination wasn't playing tricks on her…Abel was outside. His cries reached a fever pitch and she heard the gravel crunching again. Someone was running with him. "ABEL! ABEL!" She sprung to life and lunged to the trunk latch again, kicking at this time with her right foot. "HEY! Let me out! STOP!" His screams were fading quickly as the distance grew between them and suddenly there was only silence again.

"NO! Nonononono!" Jaci screamed, knowing that if Abel was taken Tara and Kipp must have met dire circumstances.

XXX

Jaci wasn't sure how much time had passed since hearing Abel. She laid on her back, exhausted, hurt, and defeated. She hoped that someone would eventually find her before she suffocated in the trunk, unable to describe the man that had taken her nephew. Thirst became a new enemy, her throat raw from screaming so much. She wanted to give up and fade away, to just settle into the darkness that surrounded her. But her descent was eventually interrupted by a beautiful sound…the roar of Harleys.

Jax, Chibs and Opie roared into the driveway, shut down their bikes and made a beeline for the house. Tara's earlier call that ended in a scream had them all fearing the worst. Jaci began screaming and banging in the trunk like a madwoman and managed to gain the attention of Opie. He hung back and walked to the car while the others went inside the house.

With his gun drew cautiously, he listened to the sounds coming from the trunk. It took only a moment to realize who was inside. "Jaci? Is that you?" An affirmative was screamed in response. "It's Op…I'm gonna get you out, just hang on!" He looked around for something to pry open the trunk and found nothing. He kicked a small tree branch out of his way and headed to the open carport and then into the house.

He nearly stumbled over the harsh reality of Half Sack's fate and followed the voices to Abel's room, fearing worse. There he learned the quick version of what had happened and chimed in with what he had discovered, "Jaci's not gone…she's locked in the goddamn trunk." Tara told him where to find the keys on the kitchen counter and he and Chibs raced outside while Jax made a solemn call to Clay.

Jaci was gingerly pulled from the trunk and exchanged desperate hugs with her rescuers but that was where the sensitivity ended. Hearing Jax rushing outside and immediately reving up his bike, Opie followed suit as Chibs took Jaci's face in his hands and leveled with her, "J, listen to me! Look at me! Tara's ok, Sack's dead. He's right inside the door. We know who took Abel…we're goin' to get him back. You go inside and lock down until Hale gets here. You understand me?" Jaci nodded frantically with tears in her eyes. He pressed his lips to hers without hesitation and then pushed her towards the house before scrambling to his own bike. He pointed at her again, "Go!" and watched her limp to the car port as he circled his bike and rushed off to catch up with his brothers.

Jaci limped inside and immediately saw Kipp sprawled on his back lying on the kitchen floor, a pool of blood surrounding him. Tara stood at the edge of the kitchen, arms crossed tightly over her chest. She watched as Jaci sank to the floor and sat by Kipp's head. "You shouldn't touch him."

J looked up at her like the doctor had just uttered the most stupid words in the history of the English language and offered the most obvious explanation for her actions, "He's all alone." J caressed the young man's cheek with the side of her less mangled hand. Without taking her eyes off of him, she asked, "What happened?" She listened to Tara's rundown of events and shook her head solemnly. She bent down and kissed her friend on his now cooling forehead. The loveable goofball that sometimes drove everyone crazy had died a fearless hero. "I'm so sorry." Jaci whispered as her lips ghosted his damp strawberry blonde curls that were plastered on his forehead.

"What happened to you?" Tara asked, still not willing to walk fully back into the room where the trauma had occurred. "What did he do to you?'

Jaci stared at Tara, who didn't seem to have a scratch on her precious body. _How could you be involved in a murder/kidnapping and still look perfectly fine?_ Jaci frowned, awkwardly got to her feet and limped into the living room to wait for the police suddenly not wanting to rehash the situation any longer. She wanted to call her baby sister desperately but didn't want to cause a panic and decided to let Vix enjoy a little bit more oblivion. Hell her battered hands couldn't use a phone at the moment anyway.

**XXX**

Vix's time in the college bubble was about to be popped. Jaci hadn't been able to call, but Juice had sent a frantic text to Kozik after Jax had alerted Clay about Abel's kidnapping.

_Shit's going down, get her back to clubhouse now! _Kozik looked at the text for the second time and gritted his teeth. He shoved off the lobby couch he had been sitting on and headed for Vix's classroom. He opened the door without knocking and scanned the room. The professor sitting at the front of the room frowned, "Can I help you?"

"VIX!" Koz hissed and watched as her blonde head shot up like a prairie dog. He would have rather not made a scene but wasn't sure if seconds counted. Juice had said NOW so he aimed to move as fast as possible. He locked eyes with Vix. "We gotta go, NOW."

Vix frowned, her heart beginning to beat frantically in her chest. She started down at her test and back up at her babysitter. "But I'm not done." He gave her exasperated look and she realized how dumb of a response she had blurted. If he was busting into her class like this, shit was be hitting the fan in a bad way and grades be damned. She grabbed her stuff and rushed to the front of the class, shoving her test at the professor. "I had four to go...sorry! Family emergerncy!" She breathed as she ran out of the door after Koz.

As they rushed down the hallway, she grabbed his arm. "What's going on? What happened?"

"Dunno." Koz's head was on a swivel as he led them outside. He was sure the threat was in Charming but it wasn't going to hurt to be extra vigilant on their current turf. "Juice text me, said shit was going down and to get you back to the clubhouse."

"Shit." Vix muttered and picked up her pace. They reached her Jeep in record time and she tossed the keys to him. "You drive…I'll call."

As Koz fired up the Jeep and tore out of the parking lot, Vix pulled out her phone and started a string of disappointing calls. She called Juice, Jaci then Tara and didn't get an answer from anyone. "Damnit. No one's answering."

Koz kept his focus on the road and pushed the gas pedal harder. Two minutes later, Vix's phone chirped to life. Vix frowned not recognizing the number but the voice was clear as day. Gemma,. "Hey! What's going on?!" Koz listened as Vix muttered a few choice cuss words and then seemed to be agreeing to several things. "Oh, shit. Yeah, ok. No we can definitely do that. Ok…ok. Bye."

Silence hung in the air for a long moment. Koz looked wildly to his passenger, "What's the word, Tink?"

"Change of plans... the Queen needs us." Vix retorted. "And I agreed to aid and abet. How do you feel about being an accessory?"

He considered her words then shrugged as a crazy grin spread across his face. "I love accessories."

She smirked. "Good…but turn around, we gotta head North. We'll check in with everybody else later, this shit takes precedence!"

XXX

Jax led a fast and furious charge along the highway, weaving himself and his crew around and in front of traffic until they reached the docks, the logical place for Cameron to be. He came to a quick hault, dismounted and threw his helmet to the ground, his brothers doing the same as they parked. He took off at a jog, scanning the area. A moment later his eyes locked on the image of Cameron with a bundle in his arms running along one of the docks. He blinked his eyes hard to make sure it wasn't just wishful thinking on his part. The image held steady.

"THERE!" Jax yelled as he pointed then took off at a sprint. He ran along one ramp and quickly jumped the rail to get to the level below, never missing a stride. He pumped his legs and arms as fast as possible trying to get to his son. The sun was beginning to set and cool evening air burned his lungs but he kept pushing.

Juice trailed only seconds behind Jax. His mind was a swirl with worry for Abel. He hadn't had the privilege of holding his child in his arms yet but the weight of becoming a father grew inside of him every day and that protectiveness extended to his quasi-nephew automatically. _Get him back, get him back! _Juice chanted in his head as raced down the dock. Images of Vix and Jaci playing with Abel danced in his head and there was no way he was going to let their hearts be broken.

The pounding of running boots on the docks roared like thunder in the waning daylight but in the end it was too late. Cameron had made his way onto a boat and onto the open water. Jax skidded to a halt at the dock's edge as he watched the boat fade in the distance. He whipped his head around to face his brothers who were now gathering around him

"He took my son!" Jax breathed as his lungs fought for air. He shook his head, not wanted to listen to his own words. "He took my SON!" As he stood gasping for air, a wave of grief suddenly overtook him and threatened to rip a whole in his sanity. His knees buckled but he was eased to the ground by Clay.

Clay held Jax as sobs shook the young man's body. His own eyes teared up and he scanned the water, blinking hard. The other guys stood in shocked silence, trying to catch their breath. Juice and Tig locked eyes, the two of them knowing the devastating repercussions Abel's kidnapping would have on the Parkers and thus their lives as well. Juice put his hands on his head and closed eyes, holding back tears of frustration.

Tig felt Chibs' hand squeeze on his shoulder and he passed a blank stare to the Scotsman. What the hell had happened? What had went so wrong to cause THIS?

To be continued….

This was supposed to be the last chapter but figured I'd break it into 2 for maximum impact and to prevent long times between updates!  
~BG


	32. Band Aids

**Walk Away from the Son****  
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SOA  
****Chapter 28- Band Aids  
****By BG**

XXX

The clubhouse was eerily quiet. Jax sat at the Chapel table with his head in his hands, blaming himself for every wrong move that had brought them all to the day of reckoning before them. His biggest regret was not putting Abel in Jaci's care when he had the chance weeks ago. His baby boy would be safe and sound and far away from all the shit of the Club in Bama or Wyoming, but hindsight was always 20/20 and it was too late for that now.

There were a few hushed phone conversations seeking information but otherwise everyone was quiet and waiting. After the struggle on the docks, half the crew had fallen back to the clubhouse, the other half had stood silent guard in the yard of Jax's house but they had been shooed away from the crime scene. They were forced to wait off site for Tara and Jaci to be released from questioning. Piney and Bobby had taken the van to bring them back to the clubhouse, knowing neither girl was in any condition to drive.

Tig sat on the couch and stared at the floor. From the moment Clay had announced that the Irish had taken Abel, he had been fearing the worst, knowing that there was no way Jaci would have ever let Abel out of her grasp…the phrase _pry him from her cold dead hands_ had floated through his head more than once on the frantic ride to meet up with Jax. After chasing Camey, Chibs had filled him in with the rough details: Camey's need for revenge, the trunk, and Half Sack's stabbing and had assured him Jaci was battered but ok. Tig had nodded along but he wanted to lay eyes on Jaci, wanted to bust through the crime scene, knock the goddamn cops out of the way and find her, lay his hands on her. He needed to see for himself that she was ok. Well she was obviously far from ok; maybe he just wanted proof of life. As long as her heart was still beating, that was all he cared about; it was like the night of the salon fire all over again, only times a million.

In reality, given their broken, non-existent relationship, seeing that she was alive might be might as close as he got to her. He had lost his right to talk to her or to be involved in any aspect of her life. She could probably care less if he was concerned for her. And that was ok, it hurt him like hell but he accepted his place. He had to own the shitty decisions he had made over the last year and knew he deserved to be punished a million times for it all. But she didn't deserve to burn for the club's faults, Abel for sure didn't did deserve to be stolen away. He'd give anything to set it all back to right. He blew out a deep breath and leaned back against the couch to continue the wait for her.

Juice continued his four step pacing route by the pool table in front of Tig. Glancing at the phone in his hand for the hundredth time, he let out a frustrated sigh. The last and only communication he had received from Vix had been hours ago in the form of a simple text, _Off the grid, we r ok, no worries._ "No worries my ass." He muttered. He had no clue what her and Koz were up to. He had told Koz to get her back in Charming as soon as he knew Abel had been taken but hadn't given him any details. On one hand, he hated her being in the wind but at least she was sheltered from the hell that was going down in Charming. He dreaded the moment when he had to tell her Abel was gone. _Gone for NOW, just for NOW. _

"Put the phone in your pocket, kid." Tig grumbled. "If she's off the grid, she won't be callin'on your regular damn phone now. Give her some time, they'll pick up a prepaid or something and she'll call."

Oddly Tig wasn't worried…sure he thought Koz was a fuck stick and pretty much hated the guy these days but he was solid in a crisis and more than good in a fight. And Vix…well she had proven herself able to handle the wildest shit, the two of them together should have been more than able to hold their own against whatever came their way.

"Damnit, Tig she's p…" Juice almost blurted the secret news but stopped at the last second. He was just frustrated by everyone keeping up the 'it will be ok' bullshit. They didn't know what really was at stake, why he had amped up reason to worry and they wouldn't know…unless he told them…which he was NOT going to do. Juice sighed and blew out a breath. "You're right…it'll be fine."

"Well, I didn't say _that._´Tig corrected and saw his brother's face fall. "Shit, man…I…ignore me. I'm talkin' out my ass here." He waved his hand around, trying to find the right words. "I'm just…"

"I know...me too." Juice replied, seeing the worry and confusion on Tig's face.

XXX

At Jax's house, police cars littered the yard and street along with a medical examiner's van. Piney and Bobby had parked across the street and stood outside with their backs to their black van waiting impatiently for the girls.

"This is red tape bullshit." Bobby muttered. "They should have been let go an hour ago. They've already hauled out Sack's poor body, surely to God by now, Hale could have asked enough questions of them. Give 'em a damn break, they can come into the station tomorrow or some shit."

"Mmmph." Piney muttered in agreement. "It's not like the girls are telling them much anyway. They're not gonna spill anything until we've heard it first. We need to get 'em back the clubhouse and get the damn details of what the hell happened so we can get to finding Abel."

Another few minutes past then there was promising activity. Hale finally appeared at the front door. A second later, Tara appeared next to him and the deputy put his arm around her, leading her onto the front porch. Jaci came outside next, her arms wrapped protectively around her own chest.

"Finally!" Bobby breathed. "Let's go."

The pair of old bikers crossed the street with a determined gait. Piney was the first to address Hale. "Well that took long enough."

Hale raised his hand as he strode forward to meet the biker welcoming commitment a few yards away from the girls. "I don't want to hear anything from the two of you."

"Are they released?" Bobby asked. "That's all we give a shit about."

"Yes, Mr. Munson. They are free to go." Hale replied. "But we are not done; I'll need them both down at the station eventually. Stahl and the Feds will want to question them. I'll try to hold them off, but I'll only get a day or two max."

Bobby was surprised by Hale's offer to shelter the girls, giving them time to recover from the horrible night. He nodded his head in genuine thanks.

"Tara's ok, physically. Mentally, she's devastated." Hale reported quietly. "Jaci's busted up but adamantly refused medical treatment; wouldn't let anyone near her."

"It's her _right _to do that." Piney snapped in her defense.

"I _know _that, Mr. Winston. But she needs to see a doctor, have someone talk her into it later." Hale replied. He waved his arm back toward the girls, "Get them home safe."

Piney rolled his eyes at the deputy as the girls walked their direction. Tara accepted a hug from both bikers and headed toward the van with Piney as her escort. Bobby took one look at Jaci and froze. Op had said she was banged up but those words didn't really do her condition justice. She was utterly wrecked…and oddly barefoot.

"Darlin'…where are your shoes?" Bobby asked softly and quickly regained his composure.

"Broke 'em." Jaci replied hoarsely. He frowned and then held out his hand, looking to maybe take her elbow. She grunted in a way that warned him off from physical contact. Instead he just pointed across the street and walked slowly alongside of her as she limped in the direction of the van.

XXX

The door to the clubhouse opened and everyone instantly stopped all activity and stared. The core SAMCRO members made their way to the center of the room and watched as Piney, Tara, Jaci then Bobby trailed inside.

Bobby caught Clay's stare and raised his eyebrows as if to ask _Where do you want them? _Clay nodded toward the Chapel then clasped a hand on one of the brothers from the Tacoma crew, "Lock this place down….no interruptions." The guy nodded and hopped to action. Clay then addressed the room, "SAMCRO…Chapel…now."

As other brothers headed inside, Tig and Juice stood together outside of the Chapel doors as the macabre parade passed by them. Tig took in Jaci from head to toe, an act that made his heart ache. She looked utterly wrecked. Her hair was flattened to her head, her face was dirty, her once white t-shirt was covered in dirt, streaks of grease and blood. Her arms were scratched, her hands bloody and her bare feet appeared to be in equally bad shape as she limped past him. She didn't even glance in his direction, just kept her gaze determined and forward like an accident victim wandering away.

He glanced over to Juice, whose eyes mirrored the same concern. They fell into step after Bobby, with Clay the last to enter and close the double doors. Jaci's stomach dropped as she walked inside to the main table. Outsiders were only very rarely let inside these doors and women were an even rarer event. Hell, she couldn't even think of a time that it had happened in 'Bama. But surely tonight was an exception. A brother had been killed, a baby stolen and a President's Old Lady was a murderer, fugitive or God only knew…if that wasn't an extreme circumstance, what the fuck was?

Tara immediately went to Jax's side. He jerked to attention when she put her hand on his shoulder and he managed to give her a hug as she sat down in the chair next to him, muttering a rush of love and concern. Clay took his place at the head of the table. The other guys took their normal seats. Bobby pulled back a chair next to Tara for Jaci only to watch battered Parker sister stand rooted in place. If just being in the room felt like a violation to her, being offered a seat at the goddamn table was incomprehensible. It just was NOT done.

She stared wildly into to Bobby's eyes. He understood her concern immediately and gave her a reassuring nod, whispering to her, "It's ok, J. You can sit. Come on." She paused just a moment more and then gingerly sat down. Bobby sat on her left.

With everyone settled in, Clay looked around the room then took in a deep breath. "Ok, we've all been through Hell tonight. I know that and I respect that but we need to get to the details, so with the utmost sensitivity I ask, what the hell happened?" He stared at the girls. "And I mean, tell us everything…leave nothing out. Don't worry about being in trouble or covering somebody's ass. We can't figure all this shit out without every shred of the truth."

Tara swallowed hard and then started to rehash the day's events which lead to her telling the crew about Gemma spotting Polly at the market. "She saw her and then grabbed the car keys from Sack and we took off following her. She was just obsessed all of a sudden."

Something in Tara's tone of voice struck Jaci's wrong. It made Gemma sound crazy and out of control and there was a barely subtle bit of blame in her statement. Jaci feel the need to explain it and cut Tara off. "She wasn't acting crazy."

Chibs' head jerked at the sound of Jaci's voice. With Tara taking the lead, he hadn't expected to Jaci to say anything, hell she looked like she _couldn't _say anything. She had been perched so motionless in her chair, with her eyes staring at the table, she appeared zoned out. Nevertheless, her voice was rough, then he realized she had probably strained her vocal cords from screaming inside the trunk.

"Gemma and I …we talked about Polly last night. "Jaci recounted. "I told her that Polly was probably going to get away clean in all of this…that I didn't think it was right. I told her if she needed…_closure_, that me and Vix would help her. Gem said she was probably going to let Karma take care of it."

Tara snorted. "I guess she changed her mind with you egging her on from the backseat."

"Didn't egg her on, she made her decision and I begged her to let me go with her. She shouldn't have went alone."

"She shouldn't have went at all!" Tara hissed. "She killed his son, that's why he came for us and took Abel!"

Tig watched as Jaci's clenched her jaw. She was coming out of her victim fog and she was getting pissed. He couldn't say that he blamed her. There was a very stark contrast when you compared Tara and Jaci. One looked like she had cried herself to sleep after a bad day, not a scratch on her, the other one looked like she had been in a bar brawl.

"Ok, ok." Clay said, holding up his hand. "Whether a good idea or bad, Gemma went after Polly, Camey's son ends up dead in the mix. We'll get to that later. What came next?"

"I told Half Sack to stay and wait for her, that she might need get out fast. We drove back to Jax's house to finish packing up…" Her voice caught and she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, trying to steady herself. "To finish packing up Abel's stuff for another few days here. Jaci was outside putting things in the trunk when he got there."

All eyes turned to Jaci and she didn't like the spotlight one bit but told her story. "I was bent over in the trunk, heard something behind me. Turned around, I only had a split second to see the guy…he looked...out of sorts, like he'd been crying. Then he smacked me upside the head with something, a branch I think."

_That explains her face._ Tig thought to himself as he finally got a good look at the right side of her face, all bruised with some places of dried blood. As she continued her story, he noticed that her left hand, the really messed up one that she had lying on top of the table, trembled as she spoke. He hoped it was from nerves but it was more likely from pain.

"We fought for a few seconds, he finally got me in the trunk, slammed my hand in it a few times and that was it."

Clay frowned, "He have a gun? Threaten you with it or anything? See any other weapon?"

Jaci shook her head. "Everything was hand to hand. Then he slammed the lid and that was it." She was quiet for a moment and then softly said, "I couldn't get out." The finality of her statement sent a chill to everyone sitting at the table. They knew the horror and guilt she must have felt knowing that her nephew and friends were in trouble but being powerless to help them. .She looked to her right at Tara, signaling her to take back over on the story telling duties because from that point forward, Jaci was just as in the dark as the other guys at the table. She had been questioned separately from Tara by Hale.

Tara spent the next five minutes detailing Camey's movement inside the house, every word that had been spoken, every nuance of his mental state. When she reached the part of Half Sack's rush to attack Camey and his subsequent stabbing, Jaci closed her eyes.

Tig watched Jaci fight to hold her composure as Tara detailed the Prospect's death. Her jaw clenched and her left eye twitched a few times, she was obviously fighting back tears but wasn't about to let them show, not in this room. He thought of the goofy Prospect and shook his head. He was a good kid, had been a great Prospect but now he would be getting his patch in a coffin at his funeral instead of at a party. He looked to his right and saw that Chibs had his face in his hands and was taking in deep breaths. He reached over and put a hand on the Scot's shoulder.

"He went down a hero." Chibs mumbled as he sat back in his chair, regaining control of himself.

The story telling paused for a moment and Opie stepped up to finish the recounting. No one else was emotionally able at that point. The girls had been through enough, Chibs was upset and Jax hadn't made a sound through the whole thing, just sat like a zombie in his seat, staring straight ahead.

"Jax had gotten the interrupted phone call from Tara…that's when we hauled ass back to Charming. Got to his house, they rushed inside. I heard Jaci screaming and banging in the trunk, told her we'd be back. Got inside, found Sack then found Tara tied up in Abel's room and Abel gone." He looked at Clay, "Jax called you, Chibs and me got Jaci out then we headed off to meet you guys."

It was Clay's turn to fill in the blanks for the girls. "We knew Camey had been hanging around the docks. We headed there…just behind him. We chased him down but just too late."

"But you saw him…with Abel?" Jaci asked. "Abel was alive, he was ok?" Clay nodded.

Juice wanted to assure her more. "He had him wrapped up, J. Cradled in his arms, he was ok."

"And you know him, this Cameron guy?" Jaci asked. "He's Irish, you do business with him?"

"Yes." Tara blurted angrily for the club, remembering the time that she was called to save Cameron's life.

Clay didn't like the butt in from Tara but ignored it and looked at Jaci."Yes, we know him, yes we've business with him."

"So you know where he'll go? Who he'll reach out to? You can find him?"

"That's the plan, honey." Bobby chimed in.

Everyone sat silent for a moment, taking in all of the info. Then Jaci asked the question Juice was dreading to hear, "Where's my sister? She should be back by now?" She hadn't been able to call during her questioning so she just assumed Vix would be waiting for her back at the clubhouse. Now that she saw that wasn't the case and no one had even mentioned Vix, she knew she must be missing something. "Is something…did something happen?"

"NO!" Juice blurted. "Nothing happened, she's fine. She's just…not here…yet."

Jaci looked to her left and down the table at Juice, frowning. Before she could call his explanation bullshit, Piney stunned them all with his theory. "She's with Gemma."

Clay frowned, "She is?"

Piney nodded, "Let's think about this shit…you got scanner noise saying how both those kids were killed, we know there's an APB out on Gemma. If Camey said she killed his boy, he had to have heard the same shit. If Gemma's on the lam, she can't get help from any of us here. She's gotta go to someone outside of Charming. Who wasn't HERE when all this shit went down?'

" VIX...she was at school." Juice replied.

Tig nodded along, "Forty five minutes away."

Op frowned, "If Gemma's running, which direction is she headed?"

"North." Clay chimed in without missing a beat.

"Bingo. That's gotta be the answer." Bobby explained. "Gemma knows we're all off limits, she calls Vix who she knows would help without hesitation."

"So that's what Vix meant in her text off the grid, call ya soon?" Juice pleaded.

Piney nodded. "Layin' low. They get settled somewhere, we'll hear from them."

"Makes sense." Jaci replied quietly, now internally terrified that she had to worry about Vix along with her little nephew.

Happy tapped a cigarette on the table. "It IS the only explanation that makes sense…unless you wanna go down a darker road and think something happened to them."

Juice groaned and put his head in his hands, "For the love of God, stay in the light, PLEASE."

XXX

The crew poured slowly out of the Chapel. The sense of urgency from earlier was gone. It was a time to regroup, refocus, try to come to terms with the horrible events of the day and get a game plan together. Jaci took a few hobbled steps away from the door and stood still as Juice put his hand on her shoulder.

"J…you need to see a doctor. I think that hand's broken…" Juice rambled his concerns but she let his voice fade away. Her gaze fell on the bar where Piney and Tig stood, downing a shot of something. He talked about doctors and bandages and sleep but all she wanted was _away_…_alone. _He said something else and she wanted to push him away. She couldn't with her busted hands so she lifted her elbow and nudged him in disgust. She didn't want to be coddled or pitied; she just wanted someone to DO something. She'd be FINE, Abel would not. Finally she broke her gaze with Tig and looked at Juice. "You find our boy, Juice. Worry about THAT right now. Leave me alone. You find him…there's a trace of him out there. You know how to get that stuff. You find him, Juice. And while you're at it, figure out where my sister is heading!" She pushed at him with her elbow again, Go!"

"You need to go help her." Piney stated plainly to the man standing next to him.

Tig frowned. "Can't…I'm supposed to stay away from…"

"Oh since when do you do what you're _supposed to_?" Piney cut him off. "She's looking right at you, Tig. And you were watching her the whole time at the table. For whatever crazy reason, I think she wants YOU right now."

"She hates me, Piney."

"Well so do I but not tonight." Piney fired back. "She's hurt and pissed, maybe she just wants someone to take it out on…you go be the punching bag or maybe you're just the most familiar …you really want Juice there trying to get her undressed and cleaned up? Bobby? You want ME to do it? She's damn sure not going to let Tara help her. You go help her…you goddamn owe her that."

Tig knocked back another shot and looked over his shoulder slightly; sure enough Jaci was staring back at him as Juice was trying to deal with her. He glanced back down at the bar. _Ok asshole, what are you gonna do? She's hurt, she needs some help…just go walk over there and try. If she screams and says fuck off, then you walk away. You gotta at least try…you do OWE her that._

He pushed away from the bar and headed her way. Juice was still trying to talk to Jaci, despite being nudged away by her. Tig clapped Juice on the back and confidently announced, "I got it."

Juice gave him an uncertain look but relented when Tig raised his eyebrows. He knew better than to question. He told Jaci to let him know if she needed anything and scurried away, heading straight to retrieve his laptop, Jaci was completely right in her estimations. He was much more useful trolling data then he was playing nurse. He already had a million ideas rolling in his head and was going to start going down the list.

Tig took a breath and hoped Piney was right. Jaci glared at him with a look that could peel paint and he tried to figure out how to handle the situation. Jaci was a do-er, a fixer and was probably pissed to no end about being hurt. She was used to helping people, not being the helpless one. It took her out of the game she so desperately wanted back into. He knew without a doubt she didn't want to be sitting around bleeding and crying, she wanted to find her nephew. "Let's get you fixed."

His words hung in the air and Jaci didn't reply for a long moment but finally nodded ever so slightly. At this moment, she really couldn't handle another sympathetic look. She had experienced Tig's bedside manner once, long ago and he wasn't very good at it. He wouldn't pat her on the head and sweet talk her and she was glad for it.

"No doctor." She said replied as a sort of counter offer and watched him shrug indifferently. He pointed to the back of the clubhouse and she started to limp that way. He would have preferred to just pick her up but knew even in her injured state, she'd dropped kick him in the balls.

They made it to the bunk room she'd been calling home for the last day or so and he guided her inside, locking the door behind them. She stood in the middle of the room and stared blankly at him. _She looks like a shell shocked zombie._ "Bathroom…light's better in there."

She managed to hobble the distance by herself with him trailing close behind. "Alright, let's get a look at you." He said quietly and began doing a top to bottom assessment of her injuries. The bright light showed the harsh reality of her condition. The right side of her face was bruised and cut from where Cameron had smashed the tree branch into her. His hand reached out to touch her but he stopped himself at the last second. Given their rough past lately, he sort of felt the need to ask her permission. _Goddamnit, this is so awkward. I'm not asking fucking permission! _Instead he held his hand up and raised his eyebrows, showing her what he was about to do. She didn't protest.

His fingers ghosted over her cheek and pressed lightly, checking for a broken bone. Her mouth twitched slightly but she gave no other response so he assumed there was no break. He really meant to be all business, to keep their interaction about the task at hand, not about their history together but as he ran his hands down her shoulders, staring at her once white tee shirt, that intent began to evaporate. Someone had made her bleed and that realization had him feeling the first stirrings of anger deep in his chest.

He lifted up her right hand first, knowing it was the lesser damaged of the two. Her fingertips were raw and bloodied, most of the fingernails broken or ripped off. He pressed her hands in a few spots and watched her reaction or lack thereof. She simply stared at him with emotionless eyes. He tried to give her a comforting look but was sure it fell flat. He moved slowly and picked up her left hand very gently. A sharp intake of breath by her let him know that this was the trouble spot.

It was plain to see where her hand had been slammed in the trunk. A harsh greasy, bloody cut lay across her hand, just below her knuckles. "Damn." He whispered. Her fingers were ripped to shreds much like her other hand. She had made the damage worse by trying to claw and punch her way out of the trunk. Her hand moved with a more pronounced shake after his prodding and he knew the pain was amping up. "That's broken, …you're going to have to get it looked at…maybe tomorrow?" He said softly and she nodded slowly in understanding. "Where else are you hurt, J?"

She frowned at his use of her nickname. He'd never been one to call her that but she just replied to his question. "Foot…back." Jaci managed to answer. She was suddenly afraid to talk too much. Just a few words without a sea of eyes on her and she was already feeling a rising of _something_ in her chest. She was quickly becoming calm around him and she worried if she got too comfortable the tears might start, the bigger worry there was that they might never stop. She had held it in all through Hale's questioning and while around the table but the hurt was getting hard to contain.

He didn't think he'd ever been so gentle with someone in his whole life. She'd been put through Hell tonight and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her one bit more but he needed to see the rest of her injuries. "It'd be easier if you just strip."

Knowing she couldn't do it herself, he eased her t-shirt slowly up her torso and pulled it gently over her head being careful to not scrap her face or hands in the process of getting her loose. He stepped behind her and let out an almost mournful breath. "Jaci…" He clenched his teeth in anger as he looked at the long deep scratches that crisscrossed her back. He rubbed his hand over his mouth and shook his head. Suddenly he knew exactly how she had felt in the back of that car. She had been a crazed animal, trying every which way to claw her way out, tossing, turning, straining and nothing had worked.

His attempt to just be clinical went out the window. She wasn't just some stranger he needed to patch up. He had made love to this body before, had touched every inch of it and he wanted to kill the man that had caused her damage. She must have been scared out of her mind during the ordeal and that's when the guilt hit him. He should have been there for her. He started to put his hand on the tops of her arms, to give her some reassuring gesture but checked his motion. _Just get this over it. She'll tolerating you…that won't last long._

He stepped back in front of her and set to unbuttoning her pants, realizing he had never performed this act on a woman without being about to fuck her. He slid her jeans down over her hips and helped steady her as she stepped out of them. He bent down and checked out her ankle. It was bruising quickly and swollen but he couldn't tell if there was a break or just a bad sprain. "Flip flops aren't made for shit kicking." He retorted quietly, remember the flimsy shoes she had been wearing at the station that morning.

"I tried…tried to kick out the back seat." Jaci explained hoarsely. Her voice startled him and he gazed up at her, nodding sympathetically. "I thought maybe I could break it, squeeze out. I couldn't though."

Her voice choked up on the last sentence and he stood up. She stared intently at the floor, her jaw clenching. With every word her resolve was breaking, he could see the damn about to flood. He didn't know what to say so just nodded at her, trying to let her know it was ok to breakdown with him. He'd never rat her out, never let anyone know she wasn't Super Woman. He finally whispered, "Tell me."

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I tried so hard to get out. I knew he was in there…with them, with Abel. And I screamed and I punched and I kicked and pulled…and nothing…_nothing fucking worked._" She seethed with anger and he watched as the tears starting to flow down her face. She looked up at him with red rimmed green eyes. "Nothing fucking worked. Tig…I tried so goddamn hard…"

He was starting to tear up himself as he watched her fall apart in front of him. The sight of her so damaged was ripping his heart apart. He knew she'd been holding herself in check for hours and just couldn't do it anymore. "I know…we all know." He was scared to venture touching her again but couldn't help himself. He reached for her hips first and was surprised when she pulled the front of his shirt with her slightly better right hand. "I got you…you're ok." She buried her face against his chest and started to sob. He wrapped his arms around her gently, trying to miss the worst of the back scratches and held her tight. "Let it go, J…let it go."

She cried and sobbed against him for a full five minutes. He listened for a while but then zoned out into thinking of painfully slow ways to kill Cameron. He whispered, "I'm sorry" more than once. And he was sorry…for a million different things. When she seemed to calm down, he kissed her the side of her head but didn't make a move to let her go. If she wanted to stand here with him all night, he was willing to let her.

She finally pulled away from him and tried to wipe her eyes with her bare forearms. He stepped in and finished the job for her with his thumbs. She stared down at her nearly naked form and then glanced up at him. "Well, this is awkward."

He snorted a small laugh and shook his head, answering truthfully, "No it's not. Are you.."

"OK? No…I'm not, at all. But I think I'm back to stable and that's good enough for now, you think?"

"Yeah." He pointed to the shower. "I think it would be easier just to get you in there otherwise we'll be here all night cleaning up cuts."

She nodded in agreement and he set to starting the water. She dodged eye contact when it came time to fully strip. She couldn't get her bra off with her mangled hands, apparently the night's humiliation knew no bounds. He helped her out of everything and into the shower without a word. He stayed with the curtain open for a moment to make sure she was settled. It was then he realized she was pretty much helpless. She stood in the spray with her arms crossed over her chest. She might be able to do a piss poor job of soaping up but she couldn't wash her hair, couldn't wash the blood from her back.

"Fuck." She muttered as the same realizations dawned on her as well. She couldn't remember a time she had ever been so completely helpless and it pissed her off royally.

He bit his lip. "This is your call. I can go get Tara…"

"NO…I can't be around her right now." Jaci replied. "Not with me looking like this and her without a scratch on her. I'll say shit I can't take back."

"Yeah, well everybody's already thinking it." Tig snorted. "So what do you want to do here?" She remained silent a second too long. He set to pulling off his shirt then unbuckling his pants. "Ok, fuck it…I'm coming in. That ok?"

"I don't think I have a lot of choices tonight." She mumbled.

The shower was the most tender, intimate and totally non-sexual event in the history of showers. He got her cleaned up rather quickly but ended up putting his back to the spray and just holding her for a long while. He'd never planned on talking to her again, let alone holding her, let alone NAKED. He knew they were on borrowed time. She leaned against him silently but pulled away when standing on her ankle got to be too much.

They toweled off and dressed and got her sat down on the bed. He ran a hand through his wet hair. "I'm going to go get Chibs to wrap up that hand. I wanna make you go to the ER but I know you won't go tonight so we're going with Plan B: Scottish medic and illicit drugs. Deal?"

"Deal." He was unlocking the door when she said his name quietly, "Tig? Is he dead? Is Abel dead and you guys just aren't telling me or something? I know Juice said he saw him but I just…I got a feeling that maybe there was something else that happened?"

Tig stepped away from the door, utterly shocked by her line of questioning. He stood with his hand on the doorknob. "No…hey, look at me. There's NOTHING to tell. Abel's on that boat with Cameron and we're going to find him and bring him home safe. End of story. That's it, nothing else. Ok?"

She nodded, slightly embarrassed by her paranoia but at this point in the game, paranoia was usually correct.

He watched her for another moment, not really wanting to open the door, more than a little afraid that when he returned, her improving mood and temporary acceptance of him might disappear. He knew he'd have to take his chances. "Sit tight…I'll be right back."

XXX

Tig found Chibs exactly where he suspected, sitting at the bar with a bottle of whiskey open in front of him. He walked up and leaned on the bar next to the Scot. "Before you drain that, can you take a look at Jaci? Wrap her hands, band aid anything else that needs it and dope her to sleep. We don't knock her out, she'll be in here trying to help, needs to rest."

Chibs nodded and took one more pull from the bottle before standing up. "You wanna talk to her again before she's out.?" Tig nodded in the affirmative and Chibs knew what stash of pills to hit. He headed down the hall on his doctoring task and was thankful for it. He needed something to take his mind off of seeing Half Sack bled out on Jax's kitchen floor.

"How is she?" Clay asked from his perch further down the bar.

"Stable. She'll be good in the morning, she's tough." Tig replied as he walked behind the bar to snag himself a beer. "How's Jax?"

Clay threw a thumb over his shoulder and replied sadly, "Semi-catatonic…but he managed to move to the couch."

Tig shook his head…his crew was a wreck. It was a lot of devastation to process in one night. Bobby joined them and motioned for a beer. Tig obliged and sat one done in front of him. They drank quietly for a moment until the phone on the wall rang, breaking the consuming silence in the room. Everyone froze; it was the TM towline that hardly rang this late at night. It had to be one of their ladies on the lam. Tig snatched the phone in an instant with a frown on his face, "Yeah?"

"Only Tig would answer the phone like that." Vix mused. She was standing in a payphone booth in a truck stop parking lot.

He realized it was Vix. "Land lines, really?"

"I got about 30 seconds here, grab a pen."

Tig frowned and started scrambling to find something to write with around the bar. "Hang on, hang on…" He spied a black sharpie and grabbed it, ripping the cap off with his teeth. He spit the cap on the floor, posed to write, only to find no paper. "Goddamnit." He ignored the questioning looks and verbal inquiries from Bobby and Clay, instead spinning around and looking high and low for any type of paper. His eyes landed on a nudie calendar hanging by the phone. He ripped it from the wall and slammed it down on the bar. "Ok, shoot!"

Koz stood leaning against the phone booth watching his wrist watch, timing Vix as she spat a riddle that was hopefully understandable but not easily cracked if intercepted. "Listen up... the Tinman,, Dorothy and me are all fine. What went down in Kansas was NOT Dorothy's fault but the Wicked Witch won't paint it that way. We're gonna go see Glynda until The Wiz can get this shit straightened out. Tinman says bring some damn backup to the Inn in the Woods and ya better know the way cause there ain't no breadcrumb trail.. Tap Times Up, Tigger. Love to everybody."

"Who IS it?!" Clay hissed, wondering if it were Gemma or Vix or both, only to have Tig wave him off. His SAA was in deep concentration and scribbling things as fast as he could, occasionally repeating words back.

Tig heard the line click dead on the other end and he hung up the phone. He took a deep breath and looked to the guys, "Chapel...now."

Clay, Bobby, Op, Juice, and Tig all filed in the room. Juice had been on his cell working some leads and was pissed to have missed Vix's call.

"Decipher that shit." Tig demanded as he threw the girly calendar on the table.

Bobby started reading it with Juice looking over his shoulder. He kept getting the calendar closer and closer to his face and frowning. "Jesus Christ, learn to write, Tig."

"I was in a HURRY asshole." Tig spat.

Bobby read the riddle aloud and gave everyone a minute to soak in the information. "Ok, the Tinman is Koz. If Dorthy is pleading innocence…

"That's Gemma." Clay said. "What went down in Kansas…that's Gault, right?"

"Wicked witch is easy, that's Stahl." Tig hissed.

They read the riddle a few more times with points becoming more clear. "Oh, oh…Glenda is the Good Witch of the NORTH!" Bobby exclaimed. "They're heading North just like we thought. Piney had this shit figured out."

"Inn in the Woods…maybe that's that old motel in Woodland? That's Joliet territory." Clay mused. "Koz knows about that place…maybe decided that was a safe zone?" The other guys nodded in agreement.

"So who's the goddamn Wiz?" Tig asked, confused. "Is that Juice…like a computer whiz?"

They all fell quiet for a moment until Opie spoke up, "Maybe it's all of us…she's waiting on help from all of us, from SAMCRO."

"Ok then…we go help her." Clay pointed to Juice. "You get some guys from Joliet headed to Woodland. I'll head up first thing in the morning."

"Ooooh, you can't go, boss." Bobby chided.

"No way, cops will be watching you like a hawk. Someone else has to go." Op reminded.

Clay gave an exasperated sigh and closed his eyes, frustrated to no end that he couldn't help Gemma personally. "Fine." He pointed at Tig. "You…get your shit together; you're leaving in a couple hours. And you and the Tinman…like two ships passing in night, no goddamn crashing, no opening fire, pass with no contact!"

Tig nodded his understanding. He hated to leave Jaci in the state she was in but appreciated the fact that Clay didn't fully trust anyone with guarding Gemma. The guys filed out of the Chapel and dispersed to the tasks at hand.

Bobby walked behind Juice and mused, "So that leaves Vix…she didn't mention it but she's either the Cowardly Lion or the Scarecrow lacking a brain."

"Vix has more balls than half the dudes I know." Juice mused proudly. "She's the Scarecrow…with a brain."

XXX

"She's mended and high. You got about twenty minutes till she's out completely." Chibs was just leaving the dorm room as Tig came back up the hallway.

"Thanks, brother." He replied and clasped Chibs on the shoulder. "Hey…Vix called, check in with Bobby for the details."

Chibs nodded and headed back to find his whiskey. He needed to drink even more after seeing the mess Jaci had made of herself trying to fight her way out of that trunk. They had talked about Abel but mostly about losing the Prospect and both had gotten choked up about it but that was ok, they were good at keeping secrets when it came to each other.

Tig pushed open the door and peaked inside to find Jaci lying on the bed, fully clothed. She was lying in the middle of the bed on her left side. Her bruised face prevented lying on the other side. Her broken hand was wrapped and cradled protectively against her chest. He could see cuts on the bottoms of her bare feet, now shiny with anti-biotic ointment, the biggest scratches covered in band-aids

"Hey." He whispered. She lifted her head slightly and gave him a finger wave, which was all she could manage with most of her right hand being wrapped up as well. He closed the door behind him and walked over the bed. He raised his eyebrows, asking permission to sit down next to her. She nodded.

"How you feelin'?"

"Kinda high…Chibs said I'll be out like a light in a bit."

"Good."

She frowned, "Not good. I don't want to miss anything. What if…"

Tig smiled and cut her off. "Vix called…she's with Gemma. They're safe, kinda far away though." His smile faded. "I'm heading up there in a couple of hours. Vix and Koz should be able to come home, be here in a day or two."

"Are you gonna tell them about Abel…and Kipp?"

"Naw…well about Sack, yeah…that will hit the papers. We're trying like hell to keep Abel off the headlines. Gemma can't know about him…she'll try to come back here."

Jaci nodded. "Yeah, I guess. It feels wrong to lie to her but you're right. Vix is going to freak when she gets back."

"You want me to tell her?" Tig offered. "I know you'd rather her hear it from you or Juice but maybe she could use the travel time to get a grip on it? I mean…by the time she gets here…be good if she was in the same place as everybody else…you know, in her head with it."

"Yeah." Jaci replied as she considered her logic. "I can't ask you to…"

"No problem, J. Vix and me…we fuss but we have a little understanding. It'll be ok. I'll check with Juice first…she's his Old Lady after all; he says ok, I'll handle it."

Jaci smirked and laid back down, her head starting to feel more fuzzy. "What's with the J stuff? You don't ever call me that."

He shrugged. "Maybe I do now." He hadn't really thought about using her nickname, it had just come out naturally. It seemed more intimate and the night they were sharing was definitely intimate, maybe more so than any night they'd spent without their clothes on.

He rested his hand on her hip, noticing she didn't flinch at the contact. Hopefully she wouldn't flinch at his honesty either. "I hate leaving you like this." He frowned at the huge bruise on her face that was getting darker by the minute. "I wanna be here."

"Yeah." She replied softly.

"Not sure how long I'll be, gotta get Gemma cleared of charges before she can step foot in Charming again."

Jaci blew out a long breath, confused by the interaction between them. To switch from hate to comfort so quickly was a head spinning event. She frowned, "So I guess we're on another timeout?"

He smiled slightly. "I'll take that." He watched her eyelids half close and then open wide. She was starting a losing battle with some much needed sleep. "Go to sleep." He again noticed her clothes. "You want these jeans off?"

"No…damnit. I won't be able to get them back on in the morning. I'm not asking anybody else to dress me." She snapped. A long moment of silence passed between them. She needed it in order to make peace with herself for what she was about to ask of him. "Can you…I know you have to pack but…oh goddamnit, never mind." She muttered and stopped.

"Ask." He prodded. She shook her head and flexed her jaw. "ASK. What'd you need?"

"Fine…can you stay…until I fall asleep?" She spat, ashamed for asking a favor from a man she had written off entirely. "The dark…pretty sure it's going to freak me out."

He felt a bloom of relief in his chest. He didn't deserve this moment by any means but he was by God going to take it. He gave her a nod and stood up to hit the light switch. "Pretty sure you're gonna be too high to care about the dark but I got ya."

When the light blinked out, she stared through the darkness for a moment, getting her bearings. She didn't want it to but her mind immediately took her back to the pitch black of the trunk. "Fuck." She muttered. She heard Tig's boots thump to the floor and a few seconds later, she felt him crawling on the bed. She hadn't specifically asked for him to get in the bed with her but she was half glad he had taken the initiative. His weight next to her was like an anchor.

"Sleep, J…relax." Tig muttered. They laid side by side for a long while and he finally felt her body relax a bit. He stared up at the ceiling, knowing he should try to get a few hours sleep for himself but not wanting to miss the experience of being next to her again. He knew he probably wouldn't get another chance. When he got back, the wall they had broken down would probably be half built up again and they would keep their distance just like it always happened.

Jaci tried to stave off the deep sleep that was trying to pull her eyelids down for the count but was losing the fight. She didn't know what Chibs had given her but she was thankful for it. Her breaks and bruises were not screaming at her for the moment and that was a Godsend. Tig was probably right, she needed her sleep because tomorrow…well tomorrow she'd have to wake up and face to face this nightmare in the daylight and that was going to hurt. But for tonight, she could sink down into oblivion. She muttered a silent prayer…for her nephew, for her sister and Gemma, for Kipp and for Jax too. She prayed for God to help them in ways she couldn't at the moment.

Tig heard her muttering next to him and leaned his head closer to try and catch the words but couldn't make it out. She shifted slightly and he thought he was busted, that she would shove him away, not needing him after all. Instead she floored him by reaching behind her with her 'good' hand and feeling around until she found his hand…and then pulled his arm around her.

He rolled with her to the left and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her tight against his chest. He kissed the back of her head and closed his eyes. Never one to pray, he silently vowed to himself, _I'll earn this._

XXX

The morning came and for the second time in her life, Jaci awoke with a phone and a note in her hand from Tig. She squinted sleepily and read his familiar scribble, _For timeout#107, my PP number is programmed in, call if you need something…or just to call. Go see Chibs, he's gonna need your help with Sack's funeral. He's taking it bad. Take care…be back when I can. Go the damn doctor._

She couldn't help but smile slightly at the straightforwardness of Tig's note; bluntness but with underlying concern but Heaven forbid he ever be blunt about said concern. After lying in bed for a few more minutes, she stood up and gingerly walked across the room and found another pair of her flip flops to wear. Good thing she was an overpacker by nature. She stared at the bedroom door with dread. As soon as she opened it, the oblivion bubble would be burst and harsh painful reality would rush over her. But it was time to face it all…people needed her and she was good in a crisis. She managed to slip the new phone in her back jeans pocket, honestly unsure if she would use it or not.

After checking in with Juice and getting an update on any events she might have missed in her drug fueled sleep, she set out to find Chibs. Turned out he had passed out in the middle of the boxing ring. As she stood and watched him sleep face down on the mat, her mind drifted to thoughts of Half Sack. She missed her aloof friend already but tried to push away the sadness to deal with the tasks at hand.

"Chibs…" She said softly. When that approach didn't work after a few times of trying, she got louder. "CHIBS! Wake up!"

He stayed perfectly still but opened one eye to see who was yelling at him. Seeing Jaci he lifted his head, "J?"

"Time to wake up man. We have things to do." She replied and held her broken hand up. "Go take a shower and then take me to the doctor."

Chibs frowned up sat up grumpily. His head swam and he gave a dirty look to the now empty bottle of whiskey in the ring with him. Slowly his brain started firing and coming to life. He pulled his pack of cigarettes from out of his cut pocket and lit one up. "Any word on Abel?"

Jaci shook her head sadly. He considered her rough appearance and thought back to what Tig had asked of him before the SAA had rolled North. _Keep an eye on Jaci for me, she's hurtin', bro. Keep her busy, let her help with the funeral, settling Sack's stuff. She's good at shit like that but it'll keep her mind off Abel a little. _Chibs had readily agreed, not only because he sorta loved her in his own way but also because he could really use the help.

"How ya feelin', J?"

She shrugged. "Broken…but I'll make it. You?"

"The same." He replied and managed a smirk. He blew out a plume of smoke. "I think we're supposed to be buddies for a while."

Jaci gave him a slight frown but then realized what Tig had done. "He told me to take care of you…I guess he told you the opposite?"

"Aye." Chibs replied as he slid under the bottom rung of the ring and stood on the pavement alongside Jaci.

"Honestly, that sounds good to me. You can be my drug dealer too." She said with a smile, thinking she would be wanting those pills again that night.

He snorted and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, kissing the side of her head as he led her back to the clubhouse.

THE END

AUTHOR'S NOTE: _Ok, it's not THE END of everything, just of this story. I've got to take some time off and figure out how to handle Season 3. I hated that season for the most part but had written some good moments that deserve to see the light of day. I'll work on that and start a new story that will cover S3and seeing the guys off to their 18 months of jail. Then it will hopefully be another story that will cover the futures of the Parker girls. I'll tell you that they do get their happily ever afters…but have to take the scenic route through Hell to get there._

_Thank you all SO much for your continued loyalty and reviews. Stay with me! Be sure to favorite me as an author so you won't miss any future Parker action. I'm also working on a new fic that's Tig centered but totally non Parker related but have no clue of a title yet. I will say this: it involves Tig and a chick he meets in anger management class. Stay tuned!_

_~BG_


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